Simple Psychology
by Crimsarious
Summary: DISCONTINUED QnV0IGEgcmV3cml0ZSBtaWdodCBiZSBwb3NzaWJsZSBpbiB0aGUgZnV0dXJlLiBJdCBhbGwgZGVwZW5kcyBvbiB3aGV0aGVyIHlvdS BkaXNwbGF5IGEgd2lzaCBmb3IgaXQuIEJlY2F1c2UgaWYgeW91IHJlbWFpbiBxdWlldCwgdGhlbiB0aGlzIGlzIGRvbmUuIZvcmV2ZXIu
1. Prologue

**A/N: Greetings, and welcome to another Overwatch fanfiction. I'm personally really excited to finally upload this, since it's an idea I've been toying with for a few weeks. The main plot will first start properly in the second chapter, since this first chapter will mainly focus on how the two main characters of the story, Angela and an OC nicknamed Max, met. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The clock was a quarter past eight, and every student in the school began to head towards their classes, for the days first lesson.

However, for the students of 8.A, they were greeted by a surprise when the class began. Their teacher entered the door as usual, but what, or rather who, followed her was the surprise.

After their teacher had entered, another girl entered the class. She was about the same age as the rest of everyone else, likely meaning she was a new edition to the class.

Apart from looking their age, the new girl also had long blond hair, which was tied up in a loose ponytail, and a pair of curius, but nervous blue eyes.

"Class..." Their teacher suddenly said, snapping almost everyone out of their trance.

"... this is Angela Ziegler. She's been moved here due to unfortunately not fitting in, in her previous school. I excpect all of you to treat her nicely, and make her feel welcome here." She continued, saying the last sentence with a pretty strict voice, Angela thought.

"Yes." The class collectively groaned.

"Now, Angela..." The teacher now said directed at Angela. Her voice was suddenly much more sweet and welcoming than what she'd used towards the class.

"... this is your new class. Say hello."

"Greetings to you all. I've been very exited to meet you all, and I hope we can get along well together." She greeted, like she'd practiced it many times.

Already, the class had begun whispering about the new arrival. Some good, some less good, but none were directly bad or insulting. A good start.

Suddenly, the teacher coughed, signaling everyone to be quiet again, and, eventually, they were.

"I'm sure you will." She then said, once again in her nice voice.

"Now, we'll just do a quick naming round, so you can get to know your new class. Then you can go and sit at your desk, which is all the way back there." The teacher explained, as he pointed towards the back wall, where a single empty desk stood.

"Sounds good?" The teacher asked, though it didn't really sound like a question.

Angela simply gave a nod, and the teacher the turned towards one of the boys in the front row. "How about we start with you?" She asked, and the boy with a leather jacket on followed Angela's example and simply nodded, before he stood up and said "Name's Adam."

He sat down, and the boy next to him stood up, and said "The name is Jason."

The pattern repeated, and at some point, it reached a redheaded boy in the back row. He stood up and simply said "I'm Max." before sitting down again. However, when he did, Angela couldn't quite take stop watching him out of the corner of her eye. He kept looking at her, in a strange yet curious way she hadn't been looked at before.

Once everyone had been introduced, Angela went down to her desk and sat down, before the lesson began. The lesson itself went by as usual, likely to make Angela feel more comfortable.

* * *

After about an hour, the lesson was over and all of the students immediately left the classroom and went out.

Once the students were outside, they split up into the usual groups. The ones who played football played football, the ones who talked talked, and the ones who watched from the sidelines watched from the sidelines.

Since Angela was new, she didn't have anywhere to go immediately. Luckily for her though, a group of girls from her new class approached her, and she naturally fell in talk with them.

A few minutes passed, where Angela got to know the different girls. Once they were done bombarding her with questions, she looked around, and saw something, or rather someone, that caught her interest.

Leaning up against a pillar, under the roof of the school building, stood the same redheaded boy that'd looked at her wierd. Right now he was looking at some of the boys playing basket, and not her, which somewhat calmed Angela, since she admittedly didn't like to be looked at the way he had.

A few of the girls noticed she was looking at something, and they followed her eyes, to the boy.

"Oh, that's Max. He's a... bit odd." One of the girls, Lucy, said.

"Why?" Angela asked, unwillingly intrigued by the boy named Max.

"Well first off, he's not very social. He spends all his freetime on homework, and other school related work. When he's in school, he's always looking on from the sidelines whenever something happends, but he never interfere. Even if there's a fight going on." Another girl, Emma, explained.

"He never interferes? Ever?" Angela asked, with a hint of disbelief.

"No." Lucy confirmed. "And then there's his look."

"His look?" Angela asked.

"He just... looks at things wierdly. Like he's observing, and calcualting. It's just... wierd."

"Hm." Angela said thoughtfully.

"Let's talk about something else." Emma said and everyone eargerly nodded. However, in her head, Angela decided to go and talk to Max during the next break.

However, when Angela looked over at him again, he was looking her straight in the eyes, before he turned his gaze towards the basket game again.

* * *

The next lesson was geography, and it was about as boring as you can imagine.

* * *

When geography was finally over, all of the students exited the class, but when Angela tried to find Max, she couldn't see him anywhere.

Thinking he'd already gone outside, she was about to step through the door, when she heard his voice behind her.

"I though you were going to speak with me. Was I wrong?"

Angela litteraly jumped, and turned around, only to see Max leaned up against one of the desks, while looking at her with a curious look.

"Please don't ever do that again." Angela said, as she got her breath under control.

"Do what?" Max asked, his look briefly turning confused before he added "Oh, I surprised you. Sorry about that, I didn't mean to."

"It's fine." Angela said, as she finally got her breath under control. "And no, you weren't wrong. I was going to speak with you, but I thought you'd already went ouside." She added.

"Well, here I am." Max said with a small shrug. "Anything in particular you wanted to ask about?"

"Yeah actually." Angela answered. "I wanted to ask why you look at people the way you do."

"The way I... look at people?" Max asked, clearly baffled over the question.

"Yeah. After you presented yourself, you kept looking at me in a wierd way. And I've heard from the other girls you look at everyone that way. I don't really know how to describe it..." Angela explained, as she instinctively rubbed her neck, since she didn't want to offend him with the wrong words.

"You're feeling nervous." Max suddenly said.

"What?" Angela asked.

"You're rubbing your neck. It's a typical thing to do when you're embarrased or nervous." Max explained, as he pointed to her hand, still on her neck.

"Oh." Angela said, now understanding how he knew that. "It's just that... it's a bit difficult to find the right words to describe the way you look at other people. Without insulting you, that is. And I'm not the type that likes to insult." She then explained.

"It's okay." He simply said. "I'm not easily isulted."

"Okay..." Angela said slowly, as she tried to come up with a way to describe it. "... I wouldn't say it's unempathetic, or cold, but more... observing, in a way. Like you're watching from a distance, not having anyting to do with what you're looking at."

"I see." Max said, as he got a condecendig look on his face. "But if you don't like it, just say so and I'll do my best to look at you normally."

"Well, I would appriciate that." Angela admitted.

"Ok." Max said, like it wasn't a big deal.

"Well, it was nice talking to you." He said, as he started walking towards the door, but when he passed Angela, she unexpectedly grapped his shoulder.

"Hold on a moment." Angela said, and Max turned around with a slightly confused expression, before asking "Something else?"

"Yes. When you startled me, you said 'I though you were going to speak with me'. How did you know that?"

"Oh that? Well first off, you looked at me pretty curiously during the last break, and though I didn't hear all you talked about, I did hear my name being mentioned. And when this break started, you kept looking around, and given your interest in me during the last break, I naturally reached that conclusion." Max casually explained.

There was a moment of silence, where Angela simply stood with an overwhelmed expression on her face, until she spoke.

"Ok then. Wow, you really seem to know a lot about how to read people." Angela said, which resulted in a chuckle from Max.

"Something funny?" Angela asked, but Max quickly regained his composure, and answered "Not really. It's just that you are very right, though I prefer to describe it as psychology. I don't exactly know why, but psychology just seems incredibly natural and easy to me. And thinking about it logically, that's likely also the reason I apparently look at people wierdly. I don't just see what people do, but I also think about why they do it, from a psychological standpoint."

"I see." Angela said thoughtfully. "Well, like you said, it was nice talking to you." She then said, followed by a "Likewise." from Max.

* * *

The rest of the day went by without anything special happening. Max still looked at most people the way he usually did, but whenever his eyes landed on Angela, his quickly switched expression and looked at her normally.

They didn't talk during the remaining breaks, and simply returned to the way it was before. Until the day was over and the students headed home.

Angela was staying at her aunt's place, and so to get home, she had to take to take a bus. She turned a corner, and could finally see the bus stop. But she could also see something else.

To her surprise, Max was also standing and waiting at the bus stop. He had a couple of headphones on and he stood and tapped his foot in rythm to the music, making him unaware of Angela's presence until she lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

This time, it was his turn to be startled, and he quickly turned around to see who'd surprised him.

"Oh, it's you." He said, before letting out a sigh of relief, as he took off his headphones.

"Yeah, it's Max right?" Angela asked, since it was a while ago he introduced himself and she'd just learned a lot of new names today.

"If you prefer. It is the easiest to say." He said, which confused Angela a little.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, to be honest, Max isn't my real name. It's my nickname." He explained.

"Okay. What's your full name then?" Angela asked, suddenly stricken with curiosity.

"Maximilian Dallenbach Edmondson." He said.

"Okay yeah, I can see why you prefer just Max." Angela admitted with a smile.

"Yeah, it's not far from a tongue-twister." Max joked, which got a small chuckle from Angela.

They stood like that for a couple of seconds, before Angela once again noticed the headphones around Max's neck and asked "What're you listening too?"

"Oh, this?" Max asked, as he took of his headphones, and held them in his hand. "I'm not really sure whether you'd like it." He then admitted.

"It's pretty hard, and the subject matters aren't exactly... family friendly." Max continued, earning a raised eyebrow from Angela.

"So you like hard rock?" Angela asked, not sounding judgemental but merely curious.

"Well that's the funny thing." Max answered. "I don't usually like hard rock actually, I'm more of a country person, but there's just something about this band that have captured me." He explained.

"What's the band name?" Angela curiosly asked.

"They're called Ram-" Max started, but he was unexpectedly cut off when someone behind them yelled "Well, look who it is."

Both Angela and Max turned around, only to see two boys walking towards them. One of them Angela didn't know but she recognized the other one. Adam, the first to present himself to her.

"It's Max. And it looks like he's already made the new girl his girlfriend." Adam said mockingly. "Must be out of sympathy." The other said, in an equally mockingly tone.

"Definetly." Adam said, before he looked at Max.

"You know, I actually wanted to wait until now to continue our tradition, so that I wouldn't leave a bad impression on our new arrival here." Adam said, as he pointed towards Angela. "But now it seems it's unavoidable." He added, as he looked into Max's eyes.

Angela briefly looked at Max and he simply stood and looked at Adam with a dull, expressionless look. She realized this wasn't anything new for Max and she had to do something.

Angela quickly stepped in between the pair, and looked at Adam with a stern look.

"Leave." She simply said, but it only resulted in a chuckle from Adam and his companion.

"I think you should leave. I'd hate to mess up that pretty face of yours." He then said.

"I'm not leaving." Angela stubbornly responded, which annoyed Adam enough so that he forcefully, and violently, pushed her out of his way. She quickly lost her balance and fell onto the pavement.

For some reason, seeing Adam treat Angela, one of the few people who'd treated him nicely, that way ignited a fire inside Max. Swiftly acting out of instinct, he kicked Adam in between his legs, which made the bully fall to his knees.

"Get lost." Max said, more threatingly that he intended, as Adam's friend simply looked at him in disbelief.

Adam eventually managed to get up, while letting out painful groans. He looked Max in the eyes for a split second, before he turned around and started to limp away, while he furiously yelled "This isn't over Maximilian!"

Once the bullies were gone, Max offered Angela a hand and she happily took it.

"Thanks." Max said in a low voice.

"What for?" Angela asked, as she wiped some of the dirt off her pants. "I think you did the most there."

"Perhaps." Max dismissively responded. "But I meant for standing up for me. No one has ever done that before." He then explained.

"You're welcome." Angela said with a smile, before looking in the direction the bullies went.

"I'm usually against violence, but I think I can overlook what you just did. He deserved it." She said.

"Yeah." Max agreed.

After a couple of seconds of silence, Angela turned her head towards Max, and said "I've got a good feeling about this friendship."

"Me too." Max agreed with a smile. "Me too."


	2. Ambush

"AMBUSH! GET DOWN!" Soldier 76 yelled as the Talon ambushers started raining bullets over the unsuspecting Overwatch team.

Every member of the strike team immediately dove behind cover.

"How did they know we were coming?" McCree asked, as he quickly shot down a Talon operative.

"How about we worry about that until after we've survived this battle?" 76 responded, the sarcasm in his voice not drowned out by the strain, while keeping his head down.

"Sounds good, but just how are we supposed to do that?" Lena asked, as she tried to shoot a group of Talon operatives, that managed to duck before they got hit.

"McCree-" 76 then said to the cowboy. "we'll try to get their attention here, while you-" He then said directed at Fareeha. "will go up and try to pick them off from above."

"Are you crazy? It'll be a piece of cake to shoot me down, when I'm up there!" Fareeha objected, as she pointed towards the roof of the hangar.

"No you won't, because while you do that, Lena and Genji-" 76 now turned towards the two quickest members of their strike team. "will go behind enemy lines and cause a stir. That should give the rest of us an opportunity to push forward and continue to pick them off, until they either retreat or there are none of them left. Understood?"

Everyone nodded.

"Angela-" 76 then said. "you'll move with me and McCree. If anyone is injured, return to Angela. Ready?" 76 asked, as he reloaded his pulse rifle.

Once again, everyone nodded.

"Let's go then!" 76 said, and with that, everyone did as they were instructed to. 76 dove out of cover with McCree and they started spraying bullets all over the Talon operatives, while Fareeha took off and started firing rockets.

After a few seconds, Lena and Genji swiftly dashed in opposite directions, towards the stairs that led up to the balcony where the ambusheres were located.

Once the Talon operatives realized that it was only three people firing at them, they started returning the fire, which forced 76 and McCree back into cover. It also forced Fareeha to make evasive maneuvers.

For a couple of seconds, 76 and McCree could only take potshots while staying behind cover. Fareeha was still firing rockets, but not many as she'd like, since she still had to avoid the gunshots.

"I don't know how long it'll last before one of them hits me!" Fareeha said over comms.

"Just a little longer..." 76 responded, before taking a lucky potshot that hit a Talon operative in the head, killing him.

Just as a few Talon operatives were about to shoot Fareeha, all the shooting suddenly stopped on the right side of the balcony. After a couple of seconds, the left side also stopped shooting which was quickly followed by the sounds and flashes of shooting.

"That's the distraction! Move up now!" 76 yelled before he and McCree dove out of cover and began running, as Fareeha began picking off operatives again.

Soldier 76 and McCree was running quickly towards a couple of crates, with Angela following close behind them. However, a single Talon operative ignored Genji's distraction for a split second, and took a shot in the direction of McCree.

The cowboy suddenly fell over and grapped his leg, and as a red spot began to form, he shouted shouted "My leg!"

Reacting quickly, 76 quickly shot the operative before helping Angela with carrying McCree the rest of the way.

He let go of them behind some crates and asked Angela "How bad?"

"Just a flesh wound. But I recommend rest." She advised as she was starting to find her equipment.

76 simply nodded before turning his attention towards the balcony and the distracted operatives. "McCree's down. How's the distraction going?" He quickly asked over the comms.

"There are more than we anticipated." Genji answered, before Lena added "Yeah, it's a bit tough."

76 was quiet for a few seconds. He then spoke quickly.

"Lena, move to Genji's location and assist him. I'll take care of your side, but I'll need you to distract them until I get there, Fareeha!"

"Got it." Fareeha said and a few blue lights on the balcony meant that Lena had moved over to Genji. Fareeha swiftly started firing rockets at the operatives Lena had kept at bay, so that they couldn't shoot 76 as he ran towards the stairs.

* * *

"Where the hell did Tracer go?" One of the operatives asked, but he didn't get an answer since everyone suddenly dove into cover once again when Fareeha began raining rockets down on them.

After a few seconds of rockets, one of the operatives yelled "Shoot her back!"

"Who the hell put you in charge?" Another operative asked.

"Just do it!" The first operative responded, and after a groan, the other opertives began firing at Fareeha, forcing her to stop firing rockets.

Seeing an opportunity, the operative peeked out of cover and aimed at where he had last seen Soldier 76. But now he was nowhere to be seen.

"What-" He started, but he was immediately silenced when three Helix Rockets hit him in the back, killing him.

All the remaining operatives immediately stopped firing and turned towards the corpse, before a figure stepped out of cover: Soldier 76.

As the operatives stood and looked at Soldier 76, the old soldier reached up to his comm, and said "I've got this. Assist Lena and Genji, Fareeha."

"You're the boss." The answer sounded.

76 then again looked up the all the operatives in front of him. After a few seconds of silence, one of them spoke up. "What're we waiting for? He's all alone!"

"I'm more than a match for your sorry lot." He responded, before reaching up to his mask and pressing a button on the side. His visor immediatly started to glow, and several white dots appeared on it.

" _I've got you in my sights._ " He said, before he shot every single operative on front of him. He only fired a single bullet for every operative, but that was all he needed since all the bullets found their target.

After 2 seconds, all the operatives fell to the floor with a hole in their head.

* * *

"How are you feeling?" Angela asked McCree, as she was putting a bandage on the wound on his leg.

"My leg hurts like hell, but other than that, I'm good to go." McCree answered as he gritted his teeth.

"Sorry I don't have any painkillers." Angela apologised.

"Don't think about it, doc. You're doing just fine." McCree reasured her, which made Angela smile a little.

"And... there. There isn't much more I can do now, so you'll just have to be a bit more careful until the fighting is over." Angela said, as she finished putting on the bandage.

"Thanks doc." McCree said, as he tilted his head towards the left.

"Er, doc? I think we might be in trouble." McCree unexpectedly said.

"Why?" Angela asked, but all McCree did was to point in the direction he was looking. Angela looked in the same direction and saw 6 Talon operatives coming towards them.

"Oh no." Angela quietly said.

As the team entered the hangar, they looked around for a split second before they spotted Angela and the wounded McCree.

"Anyone? We're in need of immediate-" Angela was cut off when she saw all 6 Talon operatives pointing their guns at her and McCree.

She was completely frozen as she looked at the operatives who were getting ready to shoot.

"1..." One of the operatives said, while Angela once again tried "ANYONE?" over comms.

"2..." The same operative said, as Angela closed her eyes.

"3! Fire!" Angela heard the sound of gunfire, but she also heard something else. A metallic sound, like the bullets hit metal instead of her.

Confused over why none of the bullets had hit her, Angela opened her eyes, only to see the back of Genji as he was sheating his wakizashi.

Angela looked towards the operatives and saw that two of them were lying down with blood coming out their heads.

Genji had deflected the bullets away from her.

"Are you hurt, Doctor?" Genji asked, still looking at the remaining four operatives.

"I'm fine." Angela answered even though she felt her heart beating rapidly.

"Good." Genji responded.

"I'm also fine, y'know, apart from the leg. Thanks for asking." McCree said, however Genji ignored him.

"I suggets you look away, Angela. In case this gets messy." Genji said, before he started circling the four operatives.

"Now, gentlemen..." Genji slowly said, as he made three shurikens appear in his hand. "... there are two ways this can go down. Either you retreat and I'll let you live, or you can attack me and force me to kill you. Your choice."

Almost immediately after Genji was done talking, three of the four operatives turned tails and ran. "What're you doing you cowards?!" The last remaining operative shouted.

"Well then." The operative said before pointing his rifle at Genji, but the cyborg ninja was prepared. He quickly threw his shurikens at the gun, knocking it out of the operatives hands. He then followed it up with dashing right next to the operative and slicing his leg, forcing him down on his knees. He then embedded his wakizashi in the operative's skull, killing him.

Genji slowly pulled out the bloodsoaked wakizashi, before looking over at Angela. She was looking away, clearly trying to not see the bloody mess right in front of her.

"I know you don't like violence, and I regret it had to come to this, but he-" Genji started, but Angela cut him off with a simple "I know. And it's not you I'm blaming."

After a couple of awkward seconds, Genji finally spoke.

"Sounds like the fighting's stopped. I'll go get the others so we can discuss our next move."

"Sounds good." Angela said, and with that, Genji climbed up to the balcony.

* * *

After a couple of minutes, the whole team was gathered around the wounded McCree.

"I think I speak for most of us when I ask, what do we do now?" Genji said.

"I've intercepted their comms." Soldier 76 said. "They know we're here and they're sending reinforcements. Normally I'd say we could take them, but..." "McCree." Fareeha said. "Yeah." 76 confirmed.

"With McCree, if we engage them, we'd not only have to survive ourselves but make sure he survives. And he's not very mobile." 76 continued.

"What do you suggest?" Lena asked.

To answer her question, 76 pulled out a holographic map of the base they were in. On the map, there was a red dot and a green dot.

"We're here." 76 explained as he pointed at the green dot.

"And this is their central mainframe." He then said as he pointed at the red dot, before packing the map away again.

"Genji and Lena, you're our two fastest runners, so you'll go there and get as much data out of it before the reinforcements arrive. The rest of us will go to the dropship and hold that position until you return. It's a possibility that the mainframe doesn't have anything useful, but it's our best shot. You ready?" He asked Lena and Genji, who swiftly nodded.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Within 2 seconds, Genji and Lena were both out of sight and 76 went over to McCree to help Angela carry him, but a sound stopped him.

"What's that?" Fareeha asked, but she was silenced by 76 holding up a finger.

After a few seconds, he explained.

"There were activity in their comms. Someone has joined the reinforcements."

"Who?" Angela asked with both a concerned expression and tone.

"Reaper." 76 simply responded.

* * *

"Come on, I'll race you there." Lena cheerfully said, as she and Genji were running through the corridors.

"I don't really think this is the time for games." Genji responded in a serious voice.

"Oh, come on. When did you get all serious, love?" Lena's response sounded.

"When a girl who can control how fast she moves asked me to race her. A pretty unfair challenge, I might say." Genji quipped back.

"Ok, I can see that." Lena admitted.

They continued to run for a few minutes, until they reached a locked door.

"I'm guessing this is where that mainframe-thingey is?" Lena asked.

"Correct." Genji answered. "Now we just need a way inside..." A thoughtful silence fell over the cyborg ninja as he tried to figure out how to get through.

Once Genji was finally done thinking, he looked at the lock to the door. He nodded to himself before he pulled out his wakizashi and thrusting it into the lock, making sparks fly and the door open.

"There." He said.

"Well, that was simple." Lena commented as she entered the room.

Once all the lights turned on, they could see the room consisted of a large computer, while a few desks and chairs were scattered around.

"I'm going to extract as much information as possible. Guard the door in the meantime." Genji commanded as he sat down in front of the computer.

"Got it." Lena said, before exiting the room while Genji began the extraction.

After a couple of minutes, Lena still hadn't seen anything so she decided to peek inside the room.

"How much longer?" She impatiently asked.

"It should just be-" Genji was immediately cut off, when he looked down and saw something. Black smoke had started to seep out of the ventilation. Genji realized what was happening and grabbed the information storage with one hand and Lena with the other, before he ran off, as the smoke began to take shape in the middle of the room.

"Oh come on, it was two against one, we could've easily taken him!" Lena argued.

"No. We couldn't." Genji simply answered.

Him and Lena ran the rest of the way in silence, until they finally saw the hangar and the dropship just outside it.

"There you are, come on!" Soldier 76 barked.

Genji and Lena followed his orders and as soon as the whole team was on the dropship, 76 said "Athena, take us home."

"Very well, 76." Athena's female voice said, before the dropship took off and started to fly back to base.

* * *

 **A/N: And just like a I promised in the last chapter, the story is properly started now. And if you're worried that this was all we are going to see of Reaper, don't be. He'll be making a return at some point. And if you feel like leaving a review, please do, since I'm always open to constructive criticism. Thanks!**


	3. Back at Base

As the dropship landed in the hangar of Watchpoint: Gibraltar, the team could see the rest of the newly reformed Overwatch waiting for them.

In the middle stood Winston, in his usual white armor, with Lucio and Torbjorn on his left, and Reinhardt and Mei on his right. It'd been an entire year since Winston initiated the recall, and a fair few of former Overwatch members had shown up.

"Welcome back." Winston greeted, as the strike team started to exit the dropship.

Though he appeared happy to see them, everyone could sense the frustration in Winston's voice.

When Angela appeared in the opening, carrying McCree with Lena, his facade dropped, and he explained "We know what happend. The med-bay's ready."

Angela simply nodded, and started carrying McCree out through the door. Lucio took over for Lena, on the way out, and helped Angela carry the sleeping cowboy.

"Athena?" 76 asked, when he was only a meter away from Winston.

Winston let out a sigh, before he explained. "I know you don't like her sending the report ahead of you, but with this mission, it was important for us to know as soon as possible."

"And what did you 'need to know'?" 76 asked, as he crossed his arms.

Before he answered, Winston waved his hand, and everyone started walking towards the central conference room.

"That this was the third time, this month, that Talon knew we were coming." Winston explained, as the team walked the white corridors of the base.

"It is... troubeling, to say the least." Reinhardt commented, in an unusually thoughtful voice.

"I'm still holding onto the theory that there's a traitor among us." 76 said, in a stern voice.

"Oh don't be so pessimistic. I mean, why would anyone..." Lena objected, but she was silenced by Winston holding up a hand.

"Unfortunetly, it is a possibility, but it is not the one I think we should be considering until we get irrefutable evidence." Winston explained.

"What other possibilities are there?" 76 asked, in a challenging voice.

"Well, we could've been hacked. That's a possibility, especially with the rumors of the new hacker Talon 'found' in Mexico." Genji tried.

"Or someone could've sent small drones inside this base, that listen to everything we say." Torbjorn said.

"We'll consider that later." Winston said, stopping the theories from running rampant. "For now, you could give us a full report." He then said, as he opened the doors to the central conference room.

All the members took a seat around the round table, with the Overwatch icon on it, and 76 began reporting. "Once we landed, just outside the base, we..."

* * *

The doors to the medbay slid open, revealing a large room, with operating tables along one wall, and normal beds along the other. The whole room was brightly illuminated by several lambs in the ceiling, giving everything a clinical white look.

All of the operating tables, and most of the beds, were unprepared and didn't have any accessories around them, apart from one bed, that had been made ready.

Lucio and Angela carried McCree over to the ready bed, and, after much batteling with the cowboys heavy body, managed to get him up on it.

"Thanks for the help." Angela said, before she started to walk towards the door. But Lucio cut her off, by asking "Did you really fall into another ambush?"

Angela stood completely still for a few seconds, before she turned towards Lucio, and said "Yeah. We did."

"I won't lie, that's the answer I was hoping you wouldn't say." Lucio admitted.

Angela didn't say anything, and the two simply stood in silence. They stood like that for a couple of seconds, before Lucio tried to lighten the mood.

"I know I only joined 2 months ago, but do you mind if I ask you a bit of a personal question?"

Angela looked at him with a curious look, before answering "As long as it's not too personal."

Lucio nodded, as him and Angela walked out of the med-bay, giving McCree some quiet time. "I was just thinking... you've made it clear that you're a pacifist, and that made it a bit difficult for you to work with the previous version of Overwatch. So I was thinking, why did you join again?" Lucio explained.

Angela got a thoughtful expression on her face, for a few seconds, before she answered.

"To put it shortly, I believe Overwatch is still the best option for world peace. Especially with Winston in charge, instead of Jack Morrison." Angela explained. "While it's true that I don't agree with how Overwatch handles some things, there's only so much I can do by traveling alone." She added, in an honest tone.

"What about you?" She then asked.

"It's pretty much the same as you. Once Vishkar was out of Rio, there wasn't much for me to do, apart from playing my music around the world. And don't get me wrong, I love doing that, I eventually just realized that... while playing my music inspires some people, if I go out there and fight for freedom, like I did in Rio, that'll convince even more people. And Overwatch seemed like the perfect place to do so. Plus I can still make music on the sideline, of course." Lucio explained, with a smile.

"Well said." Angela commented.

They walked the rest of the way silence, until they reached Angela's office. She was about to open the door, when Lucio unexpectedly grapped her wrist.

"What are you doing?" Lucio asked.

"I'm going in to do my job." Angela answered in a determined voice.

"No, you're not." The brazilian DJ responded, in a just as determined voice as Angela's.

"What?" Angela asked, clearly confused.

"I may be the new guy around here, but I know that it isn't healthy, or fun, to work as much as you do." Lucio explained, as he let go of Angela's wrist.

The Swiss doctor let out a sigh, before answering "I know. But if I don't do my job, then people, good people, could die."

"Oh, come on." Lucio tried. "I don't think anyone would die by you just taking a deserved break after surviving an ambush, AND saving McCree's life."

"But..." Angela tried, but Lucio cut her off again. "If you keep this up, then you'll eventually tire yourself out. At the very least, take a nap. Then you could do your job with a clear head."

"Well, when you put it like that..." Angela admitted, as a small smile crept up on her face.

"I don't suppose it would hurt to just take a little time to myself."

"Now that's the spirit!" Lucio cheerfully said.

And with that, the two of them walked past Angela's office, towards the personal rooms.

* * *

"... and then we flew back." Soldier 76 finished the briefing.

"I see." Winston said, in a thoughtful tone. He'd been sitting like that the entire briefing, just listening.

"While it's most certainly concerning that they were anticipating you, and that Reaper was among them, we musn't forget that, despite that, you still managed to pull through, and extract some data from their database. You all deserve a well-earned break, after that." Winston then said, with a smile on his face. "Dismissed."

Slowly but surely, everyone started to leave the conference, and it didn't take long before light banter could be heard among the friends.

After the door closed, Winston was about to leave himself, when he unexpectedly saw that Soldier 76 was still present.

"Something the matter?" Winston asked, and 76 quickly got up from his chair.

He walked close to Winston, and when he stopped, he whispered "As the closest thing this group has to a leader, you need to do something about the ambushes!"

Winston let out a sigh, before answering. "You think I don't know that? I'll look through what you got from the Talon base, and IF I find something of interest, we'll all discuss it. But until then, we shouldn't be going around and spread paranoia."

"And what if what we got doesn't tell us anything?" 76 kept going. "What if we still know nothing after..."

"That's enough." Winston cut him off. "Dismissed."

However, to Winston's displeasure, 76 simply crossed his arms, and kept standing.

"Dismissed, 76." Winston tried again, in a more commanding tone, and this time it worked. 76 turned around and left.

Winston let out another sigh, before he mumbled "What's his problem?" as he began walking towards his personal lab.

"I believe he is trying to protect Overwatch in his own way." Athena unexpectedly said.

"I know, Athena." Winston admitted, in a tired voice. "But I was being retorical. You didn't have to answer." He added, with a small smile.

"Oh ok. I will try to remember that for the future." Athena said.

Winston let out a small chuckle, while he remembered that Athena still had a lot to learn. He walked the rest of the way in silence, and eventually reached his lab. He opened the door, and jumped up on the hanging wheel, and the all the way up to his personal terminal.

He was about to open the folder with what they got from the Talon base, when he looked to his left, and saw his stash of peanut butter.

He once again looked at the terminal, and then at the peanut butter. "Oh, why not?" He asked himslef, before he grabbed a jar.

"Athena, bring up the material we extracted from the Talon base." Winston instructed, as he started opening the jar.

"On it." Athena answered, and a full list was quickly brought up on Winstons screen.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here." Winston mumbled to himself out, as he opened the first folder.

The first folder was just a construction plan for an expansion to the base. "We definetly won't be needing that."

Winston quickly closed the folder, and was about to open the second one, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was one of the messages, and it was a message from Talon Command. And if Talon Command sent something, it had to be important.

* * *

 _To: Talon Base Sierra de Baza  
From: Talon Command_

 _Talon Base Sierra de Baza._

 _Attached to this message is another message, we believe you'll find of high use._

 _Speak of this to no other base._

 _\- Talon Command._

* * *

Out of curiosity, Winston opened the other message, and began to read it.

As he was reading, he almost couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he unwillingly put the jar away, so he could concentrate.

Once he was done reading, Winston put his hand over his mouth, and simlpy mumbled "He was right."

"Athena, call an emergency meeting. Now!" Winston commanded, and Athena answered with "Done, Winston."

Winston quickly downloaded the message, before he headed towards the conference room, once again.

* * *

 _To: Talon Command  
From: _[No data found]

 _Talon Command._

 _Overwatch is planning to do a surprise attack on your base in Sierra de Baza. They'll be attacking at 06:30 PM tomorrow, but I do not yet know if I'll be a part of the team. I recommend you forward this to the base, and they set up an ambush._

 _My cover is still intact, but I fear they'll start suspecting something is up soon. 76 is already spreading rumors that one of us is a traitor. If you have some sort of ace in your sleeve, I'd recommend you use it soon, before the rumors are confirmed. They shouldn't find out about me too soon._

 _I'm upholding my end of out bargain, so I'm counting on you to do the same._

 _\- Veiled_

* * *

 **A/N: A traitor, huh? Now that's interesting. I've already decided who it is, and why he/she is doing it, so this, unfortunetly, isn't something where you can vote who it is, since then there wouldn't be any mystery. And you can probably also guess how Max will fit into the story now. See you next time!**


	4. Answers in Memories

**A/N: This story is, obviously, still new, and as such there hasn't been much direct feedback yet. However, what feedback there have been, both direct and indirect, has been both very helpful and very positive. And it's because of that I keep writing. So thank you for that! Anyway, back to the story.**

* * *

The door to the central conference room opened, and almost everyone stepped inside.

Lena, who was the first to enter, asked "What's the matter big guy?" with a smile.

"Please, just... take a seat." Winston responded. Everyone present noticed Winston's nervousness, and knew something was up.

Once everyone had taken a seat around the table, Winston looked at everyone, and noticed something. Someone was missing.

"Where's Angela?" Winston asked.

"Last I saw her, she was..." Lucio started, but he was cut off by the sound of the door opening again.

Everyone looked towards the door, only to see Angela enter, with a tired expression on her face. "Sorry I'm late." She apologized. "I didn't think anything would happend, so tried to relax a little." She then explained.

"It's fine. At least you wasn't very late." Winston brushed it off, clearly not focused on that.

Angela quietly took a seat, and 76 asked "Well, why did you call this meeting?"

"I was looking through what you got from the base, when I found this." Winston explained, with a grim expression. He turned around, and pushed a button, which made the first message from Talon Command appear on the monitor.

"I'm not sure what's so bad about this message." Lena admitted, once everyone had read it.

"That's because this isn't the important message." Angela unexpectedly explained, as she looked at Lena. She once again turned towards Winston, and continued. "It's the other message, that's mentioned, isn't it?"

Winston simply nodded, before he pressed another button and the other message appeared on the monitor.

As the team began to read it, their expression gradually changed, from curious or confused, to horrified or shocked.

"This..." Reinhardt stuttered.

"I... I just can't believe it." Angela admitted, but she was answered by 76 "Well, you're going to have to now."

"76." Winston interrupted. "I think we all, except you, are having a hard time believeing this."

The gorilla then turned his attention towards the entire group, gathered around the table. "I hate to speak to you all like this, but..." Winston started. "... if whoever the traitor is says it now, we will be merciful."

No one moved, as anticipated.

"I see..." Winston said, and everyone began to look at each other with suspicious eyes.

"When are we going to tell McCree?" Genji asked.

"We should as soon as possible, but we should give him time to heal first." Winston answered, after a few short seconds of silence.

After more uncomfortable silence, Mei spoke up. "How are we going to determine who it is?"

"That is a good question, and one I, unfortunetly, doesn't know the answer to." Winston admitted. "I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any?" Winston added, and 76 promptly answered.

"I recommend an extensive interrogation of everyone, followed by intense..." "Stop." Winston immediately cut him off, which displeased 76.

"We have to do something, and this is the quickest..." 76 tried, but once again, Winston cut him off.

"While it is true that one of us is working with Talon, the rest of us are innocent, and we. Do. Not. Harm. Innocent people."

76 simply sat back down in his chair, with an annoyed grunt.

Winston was silent for a few seconds, before he spoke again.

"While one of us, unfortunetly, is working alongside with Talon, that doesn't mean we should immediately distrust everyone. Becuase remember: It's only one person. And that doesn't allow us to be hostile towards people who have nothing to do with it. People we call friends. Remember that. Dismissed."

This time, everyone started to leave, but Winston stopped Angela on her way out. "Angela, can you stay?"

The Swiss doctor turned around, and faced the gorilla, as Lena could be heard saying "Nice speech big guy." while she exited the room. This time there were much less banter among the friends.

"What did you want?" Angela asked.

"We should tell McCree this as soon as possible, but I'll leave it up to you to decide, when that is. We shouldn't stress him while he's healing." Winston explained.

"Agreed." Angela responded with a nod.

"How long do you think it'll take him to heal?" Winston asked.

"With the nanobots? I think about three or four days." Angela said.

"Just be sure to notify me when you think he's ready." Winston reminded, and Angela left with a nod.

She walked down the corridors of the base, and walked past the training area, where she could hear 76's pulse rifle, and Genji's katana.

Eventually, Angela reached the lounge. She opened the door, and saw Lucio, Fareeha and Mei watching TV, while Torbjorn and Reinhardt was discussing something at the bar.

"Hi, Angela!" Reinhardt greeted her, as she walked towards the bar.

"Come and join us! We're discussing the good old day." Reinhardt offered Angela.

"Back when backstabbers weren't a regular thing for Overwatch." Torbjorn mumbled low enough so only he and Reinhardt heard it. The german knight slightly frowned at Torbjorn's comment.

"No thanks." Angela said, with an apologetic look. "I'm still pretty tired, so I've just come to grab something to drink, before I try to take a nap again." She then explained.

"Understandable." Reinhardt said, before he and Torbjorn continued their discussion.

Though Angela didn't intend to, she couldn't avoid overhearing Reinhardt and Torbjorn's discussion, as she knelt down to find something to drink.

"It is indeed troubeling to have history repeat itself." Reinhardt said, and Angela immediately knew what he referred to: Reyes betraying the original Overwatch.

"I joined because I thought this time it would be different, not the excact same story." Torbjorn admitted, while Angela finally found something to drink.

"I don't think any of us anticipated this, old friend." Reinhardt responded, before he took a sip of the beer in his hand.

"True." Torbjorn admitted.

Angela had heard enough, and she quickly left for her own room.

Once she finally made it to her own room, she entered, and put the drink down on her desk. Though she wanted to just go to sleep, the news of the traitor had shocked her deeply, and now her thoughts were just flying around in her head.

At the very least, she could work a little, until she felt ready to sleep.

However, once she opened her computer, and tried to work, she found it nearly impossible to concentrate. Whenever she tried to focus on her work, her thoughts would constantly drift towards the traitor. Questions like 'Why would he or she do it?', 'How long has this been going on?' and, of course, 'Who is the traitor?" kept flooding her mind.

Angela gradually got more and more frustrated at her lack of concentration.

Eventually, after 15 minutes of getting no work done, her frustraion hit a boiling point, and, in one violent motion, she stood up and ran a hand across the desk.

Angela thought that she'd only knocked down papers, but the sound of something solid hitting the ground, told her otherwise.

Suddenly stricken with curiosity, Angela looked down, only to see the back of a picture frame lying on the ground.

"Hm? Didn't know I had one of these." She mumbled to herself, as she knelt down to pick it up.

Once she'd picked it up, she turned it around and as she saw the picture, she remembered the day it was taken.

The picture displayed Angela and Max, with Max having an arm around Angela's shoulder. It was taken the day after their graduation. Since they'd go to different places in the future, they decided to meet up one last time.

* * *

The door to the small cafe opened, and a bell rang throughout the entire establishment.

Since it was only 10 in the morning, there was almost no traffic on the road, and there were only 3 tables occupied. Two of them by elderly couples, and at the last, a redheaded young man sat, with glasses and headphones.

Though the redheaded young man had headphones on, he sat so he could see when anyone entered.

And now, as Angela entered the cafe, he took of his headphones, and stood up from his chair.

"Hi Angela." He said, as extended a hand.

"Hey Max." Angela responded, and instead of accepting his hand, she hugged him instead.

Though Max was at first surprised over Angela's sudden move, he ended up hugging her back.

Once they finished hugging, they sat down, and Max was the first to speak.

"I believe a congratulations is in order." He said, with a small smile.

"Likewise." Angela responded, while she hung her coat on the back of her chair.

"It's nice to finally be done. Now we can focus on the things we actually want to do." Angela then said, with a small sigh.

"Agreed." Max responded. They'd both seen the classes that didn't interest them as a waste of time, and now they were both happy to be done with them.

There was a small silence, until Max spoke.

"So... this is it?" Max asked with a hint of sadness, but still with a smile.

"Oh, don't say it like that." Angela said. "It's not like this is the last time we'll see each other. Even though we'll be studying at different places from now on, that doesn't mean we can't keep in contact. We aren't doing this because it's the last time we see each other, but to celebrate the time we spent together in school."

"You're right." Max admitted, the sadness gone from his voice. "I don't know what I'd have done without you." He added.

"You'd have managed. You always do." Angela responded.

"Yeah, nice as always." Max commented, in a light tone.

"It's who I am. You of all people should know that." Angela said, in a playful way.

"I wasn't complaining. And I don't think I ever will." Max said.

Him and Angela chuckled together, before sitting in a comfortabe silence for a few seconds.

"So, how do you like the place?" Max asked, wanting to break the silence.

"It's nice. Not very big, but that just kinda adds to its charm." Angela thoughtfully said, as she looked around.

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Max admitted, before taking a sip of his drink.

Eventually, the two friends just started talking smalltalk. They didn't talk about anything big, or anything to do with their future plans. Until Max asked a question, while they were getting ready to leave, and go for a walk.

"So, a real hospital?" He asked, as he put on his coat.

"Yeah. I believe I won't get any further without some real life experience." Angela casually explained.

"Just so you know, I wholeheartedly support that decision." Max admitted, as he finished putting on his coat.

"Thanks. Really." Angela said, with a sincere smile. Since she was also finished getting ready to leave, they decided to venture out into the streets.

"And you were going to continue getting an education in psychology, right?" Angela inquired, as they began to walk in the bright sunlight.

"Of course." Max simply answered.

"Well, you're going to look like a real psychologist with those glasses." Angela teased.

"Well, it wasn't really my choice." Max said, with a small shrug.

"Yeah, it's still just kind of wierd, how you just suddenly needed them." Angela admitted, as she turned around, and looked at Max with a sudden serious look.

"Don't worry, I've adapted fine to them. Besides, let's not ruin this." Max said, not wanting Angela to worry about him.

"Yeah, you're right." Angela admitted.

They continued to walk for a few minutes, before a guy suddenly called out for them. "Hey, you two!"

Both Angela and Max looked towards him, with a wierd look.

"Want to have a picture taken? It only costs 5 franc pr. picture." He continued.

"Should we? To commemorate?" Max asked.

"Yeah let's." Angela answered, and the two friends quickly posed for the camera, before being momentarily blinded by the sharp light.

* * *

As Angela stood and reminisced, she remembered the last thing she'd said to Max, as they parted ways.

"Don't ever change." She'd said, but in his usual self, Max had responded with "Humans change. It's inevetable." However, after Angela had given him a look of 'you know what I mean', he'd added "But I'll try not to." And with that, they'd parted ways.

They'd still kept in contact, while Angela worked at the hospital. However, joining Overwatch made maintaining contact difficult, at best, and downright impossible, at worst.

Angela let out a small sigh, meanwhile she realized just how much she missed Max. He'd had some odd characteristics, but that was a thing she'd admired about him. Even though it made him 'the wierd one' in school, he never changed for anyone.

Then there was his look. Even getting glasses hadn't stopped him from looking in his own way. Where he didn't only see what people did, but why they did it.

... Why they did it.

For some reason, that description stuck in Angela's head. Max could see why people did what they did. Almost like he could see their motives. Their... motives.

A realization suddenly struck Angela, like lightning.

Without letting go of the picture frame, Angela suddenly stormed out of her room, and began running through the corridors.

While Angela was running, she saw Lena walking by, at the end of the hallway.

"Lena!" Angela called out, and Lena stopped dead in her tracks, and looked at Angela.

"Hey doc, what's..." Lena started, but Angela cut her off.

"Is Winston still in his lab?" She asked.

"Yeah I think so, why? And what's that?" Lena asked, when she saw the picture frame in Angela's hand.

"Oh this? Nothing. Anyway, I've got to talk with Winston. See you later." Angela explained, incredibly quickly, before she darted off.

She quickly ran through the hallways, and finally made it to Wisntons lab. She opened the door, and immediately heard Winston debating with Athena.

"No Athena, that's not an option." Winston said. He sounded very tired.

"Winston?" Angela called out, and the debate immediately stopped. After a few seconds, Winston came jumping down to Angela.

"What can I do for you, Angela?" He asked.

"I think I may have an solution to the traitor." Angela explained, as she tightend the grip around the picture frame.


	5. Importance

**A/N: This is just a fair warning: The first half of this chapter is a small slice-of-life for Max, before he meets Overwatch. So, as you can imagine, there doesn't happend a lot of Overwatch related stuff during that. If you're not interested in that, you can just skip ahead.**

* * *

The brown wooden door creaked, as it was opened from the inside.

A redheaded man stepped out from the apartment, and closed the door behind him. He stood for a second and looked at the golden nameplate on the door, that read 'Maximilian D. Edmondson'.

It was a sunny day in July, and he was wearing a pair of sunglasses.

Max eventually turned around, and slowly started making his way down the stairs of the apartment building.

When he stepped outside, he was greeted by the sound of cars driving by, and people talking while they walked by. A normal day in Zürich.

As Max started walking, he went over the plans for the day, in his head. He only had 2 patients in the morning, so once he was done, he would go to the local market, and see if he could get something for dinner. Then he would go for a walk in the park, after which he would go home and continue reading his book.

A small smile crept upon his face. His life was nothing special, but that wasn't a bad thing. He lived his normal life, while helping those he could with his abilities as a psychologist.

Max finally reached his destination. Another apartment building.

He quickly found the key, and entered. He walked up to the 4th floor, where he found the door to his workspace. It looked almost like the door to his own apartment, the only difference being that this nameplate also had 'Psychologist' written on it.

Max entered, and walked through the waiting area, straight towards his personal office.

He sat down at his desk, and checked the day's schedule.

He would first talk with a patient he was helping out of a depression. The patient had been to Max a few times, and he was already showing improvements.

The second patient was a victim of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD for short, and, like the first patient, he had also seen substantial improvements.

Max smiled at the thought of how much he had helped these two.

There were still about half an hour until the first patient arrived, so Max decided to turn on the radio. However, as soon as he did, his smile dissapated.

"... news of another base belonging to the infamous terrorist group Talon." The announcer on the radio said.

"The base, which is located in Sierra de Baza in Spain, was located when local citizens saw a large white ship take off from the side of the mountain. When authorities arrived, the base was discovered. The base was, however, not abandoned, and the members of Talon started shooting at the local authorities when they approached." The announcer continued.

"But the members quickly fled, before the military could arrive. Upon inspection of the base, several dead members of Talon, was found. All of them had different wounds, indicating that several different weapons and fighting styles were used against them."

There was a short silence, before the announcer spoke again.

"The citizen's description of the ship, matched that of an Overwatch dropship. This, along with the different methods used against the Talon members, has lead to most people suspecting that this was another strike by the newly reformed, rogue Overwatch. We will continue to update on the situation when new information is revealed. But until then, we should..." Max turned off the radio.

"Overwatch..." Max mumbled to himself, as he opened the door to his office.

He started making his way towards the room where he held his meetings.

"You were with them the last time. Are you again, Angela?" He mumbled to himself. The mention of Overwatch had brought back the memories of Angela.

He entered the meeting room, and started making sure everything was in order.

The giant window overlooking the streets were clean, and everything on the tables were lying where they should.

"Any minute now." Max said, while waiting for the first patient to arrive.

Only a few seconds later, a small sound signalled that the patient had arrived, and Max headed towards the waiting area.

* * *

"... and if you remember to do that until the next time we see each other, we can discuss how it works, and whether you can use it." Max said, as he was escorting the last patient of the day out.

"I will. And thanks again." The patient said, before opening the door.

"Until next time." The patient said, and Max responded with "Until next time." The patient closed the door, leaving Max alone.

Max turned around and headed up towards his office.

He closed the door behind him, and quickly found his chair.

He sat down and wrote down a few notes about the day's meetings, before he packed what he needed.

On the way out, Max made sure that every door was locked, and secure. Once he was sure, he exited out into the sunny streets.

Max stood for a second and checked the time. It was 1 PM.

After he'd checked the time, he turned left and started heading towards the markets.

He made it in about 20 minutes, and once he was there, he noticed that there wasn't as many people as usual. But then again, he did usually only come here in the evening, where more people were done with work.

Max slowly started walking along the stands. He walked past the stands with homemade decorations and different kinds of toys, towards the ones with food.

The quality of food from the market was just as good, if not better, than the food Max could buy in the nearest supermarkets. And it was cheaper too.

"Hey Max. Back already?" An omnic suddenly asked Max.

Max turned his head in confusion.

"Oh, Ben. You startled me." Max said, to the omnic named Ben. He and Max had known each other since Ben opened his stand 1 year ago, and he was one of Max's few friends.

"Sorry, but you're kinda hard not to surprise." Ben jokingly excused himself.

"Oh come on, enough with that." Max said.

"Alright, alright sorry." Ben finally properly excused. "So, I'm assuming you're here to get some food." The omnic continued in a friendly tone.

"Right." Max confirmed. "I'm not really looking for anything special today. I'm just looking to stock up for a few days, maybe the whole week."

"Understandable. I mean, it'll get boring if you get a three dish meal every day." Ben jokingly responded.

Max chuckled a bit, before the omnic showed him some of his new wares. About 15 minutes later, Max had a full bag, and had just payed.

"Well, I think that's it." Ben said, and Max nodded.

"Yes. I'll see you at some point in the future." Max said, as he finished packing.

"I most certainly hope so." Ben said, and Max started to leave. He navigated the different stands easily, and he quickly found himself at the road. He followed it for a few minutes until he reached the park, where he entered.

Max walked among the trees and wildlife while listening to the sounds of nature for some time. Eventually, he found himself at the park's lake.

He reached into the bag full of food, and found an apple. As he stood and held the apple, he found a small bench, overlooking the calm lake.

Max decided he might as well, and sat down on the bench. He bit into the apple, while the different birds on the lake gracefully swam around.

* * *

Several meters, and streets, away from the park, a blue light could be seen dashing through the city. It was almost as if the light was combing the city, looking for something.

"Out of all the cities, he had to choose the overpopulated one." The light said, in a british accent.

Suddenly, the light stopped, and Lena appeared. She leaned up against the nearest wall, while taking deep breaths. She'd been running for a long time, and she was fairly exhausted.

She'd searched almost the entire city, and at an incredibly high pace, and yet she hadn't seen him anywhere.

"At least Angela isn't searching for him herself." Lena reminded herself, while she got her breath under control.

"Then it would certainly take forever." She then said.

Angela had originally intended to search for her friend Max alone, but when Lena had proposed to go with her, she'd agreed. With Lena, they would find him faster, and they needed to find him as soon as possible.

After a few seconds of catching her breath, Lena was ready to go again.

"'Kay, then. You ready buddy?" She asked her chronal accelerator. It'd begun to blink, but now it seemed fine.

"Great, let's go!" Lena said, and with that, she ran off again.

Lena spent another 10 minutes on running thrugh the city, but she still couldn't seem to find anyone who looked the way Angela had descriped him. Eventually, she decided to head back to Angela, who was asking some of the locals. Since Lena didn't speak german at all, she couldn't really help with that.

It didn't take long at all to find Angela.

When Lena found her, she stopped and immediately asked "Made any progress, doc?"

Angela quickly said what sounded like a farewell to the man she was talking to, before she turned towards Lena.

"A little." Angela simply answered, before elaborating. "The man I was just talking to was apparently his last patient of the day. So at least we know he isn't at his workplace"

"Patient?" Lena inquired.

"Yeah. He's become a independent psychologist. Just like he wanted." The last bit Angela mumbled to herself.

"Well, that's all well and good, but did you get anything on his whereabouts?" Lena said, clearly a little bit impatient.

"Unfortunetly no. He doesn't seem to have a lot of friends, and he spends most of his free time in the company of himself." Angela explained, before unexpectedly letting out a low chuckle.

"What's funny about that?" Lena asked.

"Nothing really." Angela admitted. "It just sounds like he hasn't changed at all."

"Well, if you keep asking around, I'll keep searching. Sounds good?" Lena asked.

Angela nodded, and Lena was immediately gone.

The cheerful brit ran along the streets, constantly looking around for any signs of Max, but just like before, she didn't see anything.

After another fruitless 15 minutes, Lena found herself in front of the city's park. She decided to take a quick, normal, walk through it.

As she approached the entrance, her mind began to wander. She silently pondered how long Angela had known Max. She hadn't mentioned him while they were working togther in the old Overwatch, and she hadn't really explained it when she suggested they seek his aid.

While she pondered that, her legs slowly carried her through the park, until she reached a small lake. She looked towards it, and saw a bench where a man was sitting and looking out over the lake.

She decided to take a small break, and began walking towards the bench. As she closed the gap between her and the bench, she could see that the man who was sitting on it wore sunglasses.

For some reason, that baffled Lena. It was beginning to be late, so he didn't need to wear them for protection against the sun, but the only other time she'd heard about people wearing sunglasses was when they were blind. And with medical advances, blindness was pretty much non existent.

She decided not to think about it too hard, and simply sat down next to him.

They sat like that for a few seconds, until the man suddeny spoke.

" _Es ist ein schöner See, Nicht wahr?_ " He suddenly said in german, which meant Lena didn't understand a single word.

" _Ein kleiner Teil des großen Ozeans._ " He continued.

"I'm sorry, what?" Lena asked, bewildered at the foreign language.

"Oh english, sorry?" He apologized, effortlessly switching over, from german to english.

"You speak english?" Lena asked.

"Yeah. My dad's from the UK, so I didn't really have any excuse not to learn it." He answered, with a smile.

"I did ask whether you thought the lake was pretty, but, to be honest, now I'm more interested in what brought you here." He then said, as he unexpectedly turned his head and looked Lena straight in the eyes.

"I'm actually searching for someone." Lena admitted. "But I haven't been able to find him anywhere."

"I see." The stranger said, followed by thoughtful silence, as he looked out over the lake.

"If you tell me his name, and what he looks like, I can keep an eye out for him if you want." He offered.

"Yeah, I'd really appreaciate that." Lena admitted, before trying to remember what Angela had said Max's full name was.

"Well, his first name is a long version of Max..." Lena started. "... and I believe his last name was something along the line of 'Dallembach Edmonds'."

"Maximilian Dallenbach Edmondson?" The stranger asked, with surprising speed.

"Yes, that's him!" Lena said, before carefully asking "You know him?"

"You could say I do..." He said, before adding "But first, I'd like to ask a question."

"Go ahead."

The stranger suddenly turned his entire body towards Lena, as he quietly asked "What do you want with me, Lena Oxton?"

* * *

 **A/N: While I wouldn't say I'm a complete newcomer to the german language, I don't have as much experience with it, as I do with english, so if you find any grammatical errors, don't hesitate to point them out. Thanks.**


	6. Dark Reunion

**A/N: Before this chapter starts, I would just like to give my personal thanks to Mike5122000, for his correction of my, admittedly kinda clunky, german. So thanks. Anyway, back to the story:**

* * *

"I... How... You..." Lena stuttered, completely taken aback by the amount of information suddenly dumped onto her.

However, to her dismay, the man, who apparently was Max, didn't say anything more. He simply sat and waited for an answer.

"You- You're Max?" Lena eventually managed to stutter.

"Correct." Max simply answered, while he kept looking at her. A few seconds of silence passed, before Lena spoke again.

"Ok, uhm, you know you're... kinda unnerving me, right now." She said.

"A necessary precation." Max answered, once again in an incredibly simple way.

"Precaution? Why?" Lena continued to ask.

"Because it's very likely you're here on Overwatch buisness. And the new Overwatch is not only rogue, but also an anomaly. Thus, I approach it with extreme caution. Do you see?" Max explained, leaving Lena speechless for a few seconds.

"Wait, first of, how do you know I'm in the new Overwatch? And second, how did you know me?" Lena said, finally letting her questions run free.

"How could I not know the famous 'girl out of time'? You were everywhere a few years ago, and I never forget a voice." To Lena's surprise, Max said that with a small smile. After taking a deep breath he continued. "As for how I knew you are in the new Overwatch. You were extremely loyal to the original version, not even letting your chronal disassociation shake your faith in it. So it made sense for you to accept the recall."

As Max finished, he turned back towards the lake.

"Wow..." Was all Lena could muster, as she tried to take in everything he'd just said. "I can see why Angela suggested we sought your aid." She admitted.

It seemed Lena's remark peeked Max interest, since he suddenly lifted his head, and looked more aware than before.

"Angela..." He whispered. "She suggested you sought my aid?" He slowly asked, as he looked at Lena again.

The brit simply nodded, and Max turned back towards the lake. "She joined again? Interesting, though not totally unexpected." He mumbled to himself.

Lena and Max sat in silence for a little while, but Lena didn't feel unnerved by Max at all, anymore.

Eventually, Max turned his head towards Lena again. "What did Angela suggest I helped with? I'm no fighter, and I barely know anything about technology. What did Overwatch want with me?" He essentially repeated his question from before, but this time he didn't so it in an interrogating way, but more in a curious way.

Lena let out a low sigh, before answering. "If I have to be honest, I'm not the one who should explain it."

"Then who should?" Max asked.

"Come on, can't you figure that out?" Lena asked in a teasing way.

Max answered almost instantly. "Angela is the only one who knows me personally, and she suggested me. She's here with you. Correct?"

"Most certainly." Lena answered, with a smile. She couldn't help but find his deductions a little bit endearing.

"Any more, or just you two?" He then asked.

"Don't worry, it's just the two of us." She reassured him. "Do you want me to call her over?" She suggested.

Max briefly looked towards the early evening sky, before answering.

"No. If this is something you need Angela's help to explain, it can very likely go on until dark."

He looked towards Lena, before continuing.

"Tell her to meet us at Waffenplatzestrasse 35." He said, as he got up and grapped a plastic bag that was under the bench.

"Sure, but what's there?" Lena curiously asked.

"My apartment." Max simply answered, before starting to walk away.

Lena quickly got up from the bench, with a smile on her face, as she reached down towards her wristwatch.

* * *

The way to Max's apartment was fairly short, but Lena still couldn't help getting a little bit impatient, since she knew she could be there in a few seconds.

After a little while, Max noticed her impatience. "I know you could get there faster if you ran, but I know the fastest way there."

"How did you..." "... notice your impatience?" Max unexpectedly finished her sentence, before turning his head slightly towards Lena. "You slowly began to take deep breaths as we walked, plus your eyes are constantly darting around. Both are typical signs of impatience."

Lena suddenly stopped, which forced Max to do the same, and turn towards her.

"So, let me get this straight." Lena started. "Not only can you figure out what people are thinking about, but you can also read their body language?"

"The body is sometimes the easiest way to get into the mind." Max said with a small shrug.

"Peoples body language can very often reveal what they're thinking or feeling. And as a psychologist, it's important I know that what means what." Max elaborated, as he and Lena started walking again.

They walked for a few minutes until Lena finally spoke.

"So, I've been wondering. How long have you and Angela known each other?"

"She hasn't told you?" Max asked.

"No. If I'm being completely honest, I didn't know you existed until yesterday." Lena admitted.

"I see..." Max mumbled, before asking another question. "Well, how much did she say?"

"Only that you're a natural when it comes to psychology, and that that makes you someone who can solve our problem." Lena elaborated.

"This problem..." Max mubled, clearly deep in thought.

"Er, Max?" Lena carefully asked.

"Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking. What is it?" Max asked, after being snapped out of his thoughts.

"You... actually never answered my question about how long you and Angela had known each other." Lena explained.

"I didn't? Oh, sorry. Well, where to begin..." Max said, followed by a few seconds of silence until he started.

"Well, we met during our 9th year of school, when she was transferred there from another school. On the very first day, we became friends, and we only continued to grow closer as the years went on. When we were done with university, our paths split. I continued to study psychology, while Angela started working at the hospital where Overwatch found her. I assume you know the rest of her story."

"Yes, but what about you?" Lena asked.

Max seemed a little bit confused over her question, but he quickly composed himself, and asked "What about me?"

"Yes, I know what happened to Angela after you two went your seperate ways, but what happened to you after that?" Lena explained, and Max's expression cleared.

"If you don't mind, I would rather wait with telling that." Max said.

"Why? Something sensetive?" Lena asked, scared she'd said something she shouldn't have.

"No, it's nothing like that." Max assured. "I'm just sure that Angela will also want to hear it. And though there aren't many things I hate, repeating myself is one of them." He explained.

"Oh, I see." Lena said.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, but that wasn't for a long time, since they reached Max's apartment only a few minutes later.

When they finally entered his apartment, Lena was briefly stunned over the place. Straight through the entrance was a fairly big living room, with a balcony attached on the outside. Next to the living room was a kitchen, with everything you'd expect. To her left was another hallway, with two doors. The bedroom and bathroom Lena guessed. The whole thing wasn't very big, but what there was, was of surprising quality.

"Make yourself comfortable." Max offered, while he took of his shoes.

Lena slowly walked into the living room, and looked around, when she noticed something.

"Where's your TV?" She asked. The room had both a radio and a stereo, but no TV.

"Don't have one." Max simply answered.

"Why not?" Lena kept asking, since everyone she knew had some sort of TV.

"I don't need it." Max once again simply answered.

Lena decided not to press it any further, and as Max went into the kitchen with the plastic bag, she went out on the balcony.

She was greeted by a rather warm evening wind, and when she looked around, she could see both humans and omnics going about their daily business.

After a couple of seconds, she suddenly saw a familiar blonde, among the crowd.

"Hey, doc!" Lena called out, and Angela suddenly raised her head. Once she saw who it was, she waved her hand.

"Come on up, I think it's still open!" Lena said, and Angela simply nodded, before she crossed the road towards the apartment building.

* * *

Max had just finished putting the food he'd bought at the market in the fridge, when he heard the doorbell ring.

As he started walking towards the door, he looked at Lena on the balcony. The look on her face immediately told him who it was.

When he reached the door, he took a deep breath, before opening.

He opened the door, and there she was. Standing in a brown t-shirt, a thin white jacket and a black skirt stood his childhood friend, Angela.

Being who he was, Max immediately extended a hand. Angela looked at the hand for a second, before looking back at Max. A big, radiant smile suddenly spread across her face, as she took a quick step towards Max, and hugged him tightly.

"God, you haven't changed at all, have you?" Angela quietly asked.

"I had a promise to keep." Max responded in an equally low voice, as he put his arms around Angela.

They stood like that for a few precious seconds, until Angela stepped back, and looked Max in the eyes.

"Where are your glasses?" She asked, when she saw he was wearing the sunglasses.

"I'll explain later." Max promised. "For now..." He continued, before stepping to the side, letting Angela come in.

"... I believe we have some catching up to do." He finished, while he closed the door.

"Indeed." Angela said. She still had a smile, as she hung her jacket.

Once Angela was done, Max quickly showed her the apartment, as Lena came back in from the balcony.

"Go on and take a seat, while I try to find something to drink." Max offered, once he was done with the short tour of his apartment.

"No you don't." Lena suddenly said. "I will do that, while the two of you catch up."

"I... if you insist." Max said, at first surprised over her sudden offer.

Lena quickly went out into the kitchen, while Angela and Max sat on the opposite sides of the coutch. "So..." Max started. "You're back with Overwatch?"

"Yeah." Angela admitted with a small sigh. "It must've come as a surprise."

"A little bit, but not as much as you might think." Max answered. "If I know you, then you're doing what you think is best for everyone. And as long as you believe that, I have no problem with it." He clarified, before adding "I trust your judgement."

"Thanks. I'm glad you see ot that way." Angela admitted, being a little bit tired of constantly being asked why she joined again.

"Of course." Max responded, briefly looking behind Angela, where Lena appeared with three glasses in her hands. She quietly sat down next to Angela, and gave everyone a glass.

"So what happend to you?" Angela asked, and Max briefly looked up at her, from his glass. "You know, after we parted." She added.

Max nodded, and put down his glass. "Truth be told, not a lot." He started.

"Beside getting an education in behavioral and personality psychology, and learning how to apply it in practice, I also started studying evolutionary psychology and mathematics on the sideline. Once I got the education, I then moved to Berlin for a couple of years, where I learned from professional psychologists. Once I got done there, I moved here, and intended to start as a psychologist myself, but I was forced to wait a while, before I could do that."

Max was silent for a couple of seconds, before continuing.

"However, once I finally could start, I did, and it wasn't very hard to find people to help. And then you came." He finished, as he leaned back in the coutch.

"Have you travelled? You know, beside to Berlin." Lena suddenly asked.

"Not much." Max admitted. "I've been to the UK a couple of times, but that was more to visit my father, rather than to see the attractions."

"Your dad's from Britain?" Lena asked, and Max nodded.

"Yes. My mother's Swiss, and they met here in Switzerland."

There was a couple of seconds of silence, until Max spoke again.

"As far as I understand, you came here to seek my aid, with a problem?"

"Yes." Angela admitted, in a heavy voice. "We don't really know what to do about it, but maybe you can help."

"I think you can." Lena added.

"You see, we recently made a hit-and-run attack on a Talon base." Angela started.

"I heard about that." Max said, before Angela continued.

"While we didn't manage to get a lot from the base, one of the things we got was a message that said..." "One of you is a traitor." Max unexpectedly finished.

"Yes." Was all Angela said, but Lena couldn't help herself, and asked "Okay, how did you know?"

"Well, the first clue was quite easy. You sought my help. The help of a psychologist. Not someone who knows about technology, or fighting, but someone who knows about the mind. You needed someone who could read you."

"And the second clue?" Lena continued.

"Only you came." There was a short break, before Max elaborated. "You could very easily have sent many more to search for me, and then it would have been done quicker. But you didn't. In fact, it started out as only being you, Angela. That meant you wanted as few people on it as possible, and it makes sense. They fewer people you send on a mission, the less likely you are to have sent the traitor."

"I'm just going to skip the formalities, and ask you," Angela said. "Will you help us?"

Max was silent for a few seconds, until he asked an unexpected question. "You do know that the new Overwatch is a rogue organisation? If I join, I could be seen as a traitor to the UN?"

"I know." Angela admitted, but she added "But I'm not asking for your help in finding the traitor in Overwatch, as a member of them. I'm asking you to help an old friend be able to trust the people she calls her friends."

Angela almost pleaded for his help, and that was something Max would never be able to turn down.

"Ok." He finally said.

"So you're..." Angela started, but Max finished the sentence for her. "I'll help you."

"Thank you." Angela sincerely said, as she let out a sigh of relief. "Don't thank me yet, I haven't done anything." Max said, but Angela simply responded with "I'm thanking you for wanting to try."

"I will." Max said. "But not today."

"What?" Lena asked.

"It's almost 7 PM, and none of us have got anything to eat yet. Additionally, I don't know how long the flight takes, but I know that I need to pack some things, before we leave. And that takes time."

"Are you suggesting..." Angela started, but, once again, Max finished her sentence. "That the two of you sleep over? Yeah."

The two Overwatch agents were silent for a few seconds, until Angela turned towards Lena.

"It's not the worst idea, and I am kinda hungry." The brit admitted.

"Can't say I'm any different." Angela said, before turning towards Max and saying "Sure. We'll stay."

"Great. Now, do you have something about the people I'm about analyse? I like to be prepared."

"Yeah, we actually do." Angela said, before handing him a datapad, with the different members of Overwatch on it.

Max sat and looked at the datapad, for a few seconds, his expression gradually changing from enthustiastic to disheartened.

"Lena." He slowly said. "Would you mind going out into the kitchen and seeing if you can find anything?"

"Of course." Lena said, before getting up and blinking out into the kitchen. Though she actually didn't want to, she could sense he wanted to be alone with Angela. Angla could feel it too.

When Lena was gone Max dropped the datapad down on the coffee table, and hung his head.

"What's the matter?" Angela asked, clearly concerned for her friend.

"Do you know what... retinitis pigmentosa is?" Max asked, in a low and unnerving voice.

"No, but based on the name, I'd guess it have something to do with the retina." Angela answered, putting her medical knowledge to use.

"Correct." Max confirmed, before explaining. "It... isn't actually a disease in and of itself, but rather a group of diseases that all work the same."

Max was quiet for a second, before he continued.

"In short, it causes decay in the light-sensitive cells in the eye. If you're lucky, you'll end up with tunnel-vision, and nothing more. But I wasn't lucky."

Max slowly, and with a slightly shaking hand, took off his sunglasses, and when he did, Angela could hear a small click.

Max looked at her, and Angela could immediately see something wrong. His blue eyes, which had previously been full of life and energy, were dull and almost dead. Like they didn't fit and were unnatural.

"Angela." Max slowly said. "I'm blind."


	7. Guilt

**A/N: Over 1200 views already. This story is growing at a much faster rate than I'd ever dared to hope for. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. And know that, as long as you'll keep reading, I'll keep writing.**

* * *

"I..." Angela stuttered. She wanted to say something, wanted to comfort her friend, who was revealing somehing very personal to her. But she couldn't. All she could do was sit and feel bad.

Max let out a low sigh. He put his glasses back on, and Angela could once again hear a small click. He looked up at her, but to Angela's surprise he had a smile.

"Don't worry." He whispered.

"It's actually not as bad as it seems." He said, and Angela clearly became confused over that statement.

"How come?" She simply asked, but to her surprise, Max didn't answer. Instead, he went over, and sat next to her. He turned his head to the side, and showed her something.

His sunglasses were connected to a small black device, behind his ear, which explained the click she'd heard when he took his glasses on and off.

"This..." Max said, as he put a finger on the device. "... is the closest thing I can come to seeing again."

"What is it?" Angela asked, now more curious than confused.

"I'm not really sure what it's called, I'm not even sure if there exists more of these. But I do know how it works. Every second it sends out an infrasonic sound, which gets reflected on the surroundings, and then sent back. My glasses then pick up the sound, and sends a signal to the device, which then makes an image out of the information, and sends it directly to my brain. It's basically echolocation."

There was a small silence, until Max added "I can get by in my day-to-day life just fine."

Once again, there was a silence, where they simply sat and looked at each other. Until Angela unexpecdetly turned away, while whispering "I'm sorry."

"Whatever for?" Max asked, since he could hear some sort of guilt in her voice.

"I'm sorry, that I didn't do anything." She slowly explained.

"You couldn't..." Max started, but he was cut off by Angela. "I'm supposed to be a good doctor, a guardian angel some say, but I didn't notice when it was so obvious there was something wrong with you! No one ever just starts needing glasses out of nowhere, and yet I didn't do anything! Who knows, if I'd actually done something you could be living a more normal life, an easier life, but because of me..."

"ANGELA!" Max almost shouted to make her stop kicking herself.

He put a hand on her shoulder, and tried calming her down.

"Remember when I said that it was a gradual decay?"

Angela simply nodded, as her face was starting to get red.

"Good. And that means that, even if you'd noticed, and tried to do something, it wouldn't have mattered."

Angela looked up at him, and Max realized he needed to elaborate to make her fully understand.

"Listen, even if you'd fixed my eyes back then, or even now, it wouldn't have mattered in the long run, since it would just start to decay again. And I don't want you to waste your time."

"But..." Angela tried. "... we could keep trying to do something, and if it returned we..."

"No." Max simply cut her off. "Angela, I appreciate that you want to help me, but... I'd rather live a life where I see through a device, rather than a life where, everytime I go to bed, I fear I might wake up without my vision."

Angela finally didn't say anything, and simply hung her head in defeat.

Max moved a little bit closer, and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Angela..." He slowly said. "... your greatest gift is also your greatest curse: How much you care about other people, and take responsibility for their welfare. That's what makes you such an amazing doctor. You never give up, and you always try your hardest."

Angela looked up at him, while he continued.

"But, like I said, it's also your curse. You blame yourself, when you really couldn't have done anything. Whenever there isn't any good solution, you instead think you just didn't find it."

Max turned his head towards Angela, and gave her an encouraging smile.

"So stop it with the curse. Stop blaming yourself. Please?"

Angela let out a sigh, as she turned her head towards the floor. "I... suppose you're right."

"I know you Angela. And not just as a psychologist." Max responded, and Angela couldn't help but let out a low chuckle.

"Oh god..." Angela said, as she rubbed her eyes. "... I still don't know what to think though." She admitted.

Max was quiet for a few seconds, while he looked out the window, where the sun was starting to set.

"I'm going to go help Lena with dinner." He suddenly said. "Meanwhile you go somewhere quiet, and think this through. Then, when you feel ready, you can call the rest of Overwatch, and give them an update. How does that sound?"

Angela didn't say anything, but simply nodded.

"Good." Max said, and as he was getting up, and started heading towards the kitchen, Angela stopped him.

"Should I tell them of your... condition?"

Max stopped, and thought about it for a second, until he turned around. "Not yet. I want to say it to them myself. Them all. At once."

Angela nodded, and was also about to leave, when Max stopped her. "Also, just call me blind. I prefer that over 'condition'. It makes it sound more weird than it actually is."

"Okay." Angela agreed, with a small chuckle. And with that, Max walked towards the kitchen, and Angela towards the bedroom.

* * *

Angela made sure to make as little noise as possible, when she opened and closed the door to the bedroom.

Once she was inside, she looked around. The bedroom was, like the rest of the apartment, rather small. Next to a window was a closet, and next to that was a small desk, with papers and other stuff. On the opposite side of the room was his bed, and a bedside table, with a lamp and something else lying on it.

Out of curiousity, Angela walked over to the bedside table and picked up the thing. It was a small music case with a peculiar, painting-like picture, with the text " _Liebe ist für alle da_ " over it.

Once she realized what it was, Angela let out a small chuckle. "You really havn't changed." She mumbled to herself, as she put the case down.

Now in a better mood, she sat down on the bed, and thought about what Max had said.

She knew he was right, which was a thing he usually was. And normally she liked that about him, but right now, she wanted him to be wrong. Just this once. That there was something she could do for him, other than giving him her sympathies.

But, he was right. And at least he was okay with his blindness.

Angela let out yet another sigh, before she grapped her wristwatch. She quickly got contact with the rest of the team, and was answered by a familiar voice.

"Angela, is that you?" Genji asked, from the other end.

"It's me." Angela confirmed, and she could hear Genji letting out a sigh a relief.

"Thank goodness." He said. "You've been away for much longer than expected. We were starting to worry that something had happend to the two of you." Genji explained.

"I will admit, he was harder to find, than expected." Angela responded.

"Are you okay?" Genji suddenly asked.

"Er, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Angela asked, confused over why Genji had asked such a question.

"It's just that your voice sounds a bit... shaken. You sure you're okay?" Genji persisted.

Angela hadn't realized that, and was briefly stunned over it.

"Genji, I'm fine. Really." She finally managed to say, after getting her voice under control.

"If you say so." Genji answered, not hiding his disbelief very well.

"I take it that you've found him then. Well, could and wanted he to help?" Genji moved on, which Angela was thankful for.

"He said yes, he'll do it. As for whether he can, both me and Lena think so."

"Well, great. But, where is Lena?"

"She's making dinner with Max." Angela casually explained.

"What?!" Genji loudly asked, and apparently it attracted some attention, since she could suddenly hear Lucio behind him.

"What's up?" The brazilian DJ asked.

For a few seconds, Angela couldn't hear anything but muffled voices. Then Genji spoke again.

"Okay, now that that's taken care of, I'd like to ask again. Dinner?!"

"Yeah. We're staying at Max's place for the night, since he needs to pack, and none of us have gotten dinner yet. You can come pick us up in the morning." Angela explained.

"... I'll go tell Winston. Anyhting else?" Genji said, after a short silence.

Angela was quiet for a second, where Max voice quietly rang in her head. " _I want to say it to them myself._ "

"No." Angela finally answered. "No, that's all."

"Very well then." Genji said. "I suppose I'll see you tomorrow morning."

And with that, Genji ended the call.

Angela sat in silence, for a while, pondering what Genji had said. That her voice had sounded shaken. Did she really hide it so poorly? Was she really shaken, or was it just a few remnants of the shock that's hit her earlier? She didn't really know, but...

"Hey, doc! Dinner's ready, and we're just waiting for you!" Lena's voice sudddenly broke her out of her thoughts.

"Coming!" Angela answered, happy to have something else to think about.

She exited out into the hallway, where the smell of a well-cooked meal, only got better, as she approached.

* * *

"What did they say?" Lena asked, while the 3 of them were sitting and eating dinner.

"They'll come in the morning, though I will admit, Genji didn't sound too happy about it." Angela explained.

"Can't say I blame them." Lena responded. "We were only supposed to find you, and then return. Not have a sleepover." She elaborated.

"Sometimes life just throws curveballs at you." Max said. "And when it does, all we can do is try to adapt."

"True." Angela simply agreed, but Lena had a different response.

"That was... surprisingly poetic, for a psychologist." She said.

"Hm?" Was all Max said at first, like he haven't noticed. "Oh, that's just how I like to speak. Didn't know it was considered 'poetic' though." He exlpained.

Lena looked towards Angela, out of the corner of her eye. The Swiss doctor simply nodded, confirming that Max did somethimes speak like that.

"Well, if you don't mind me asking, what do you like to do in your spare time?" Lena asked Max.

"To be honest, I don't have a lot of spare time. I spend most of my time trying to figure out how to help my patients." Max answered.

"Oh come on, that can't be all you do." Lena kept going.

"Well, I do sometimes go for a walk, or look around in the local market. However, travelling to other countries is a bit difficult, due to the slightly unpredictable nature of my job." Max said, and Lena responded with "I can imagine."

"When I'm home, I do like to read a fair bit." Max then said.

"What do you like to read?" Lena asked, almost completely forgetting to eat her food.

"This'll likely make you roll your eyes, but I mostly read different books about psychology." Max said, with a small chuckle. "Though, I do also sometimes read science-fiction novels, even though they're more science than fiction nowadays."

"Indeed." Angela said, and everyone around the table briefly chuckled.

"I think that's about it." Max said. "Like I said, I mostly do things that are related to my work, in one way or another."

"I can see that." Lena said. "You're really dedicated." She added.

"Thanks." Max simply responded.

The rest of the dinner went by rather well. Most of the conversations were about Max and Angela's past, but they didn't mind. Once they were done eating, Lena suddenly realized something.

"Hey, Max?" She asked, as they were cleaning the dishes.

"Hm?" He said, as he turned his head towards her.

"Where are we going to sleep?" She asked.

Max thought about it for a second, until he turned towards Angela.

"Did the bed look big enough for the two of you?" He asked.

"I think so." Angela responded, and Max nodded.

"How about you two sleep in there, while I sleep on the couch? I need to pack, so I'll likely be up longer than you, anyway." He reasoned.

"Sounds good." Lena said, and Angela simply nodded.

* * *

The ceiling of Max's bedroom was the only thing Angela had looked at for a while.

Even though she'd tried for almost 2 hours, the comforting embrace of sleep just wouldn't take her. Instead, all she did was rolling around, and thinking about the days events. It had been a rollercoaster of emotions, to say the least.

First she'd felt nervous over meeting Max again after so long, but nervousness was quickly replaced by a small amount of irritation over not being able to find him. Then, once she'd reunited with him, she'd felt the happiest she'd felt in a long time. But that too was quickly gone, and replaced, this time with guilt and sadness over Max's blindness.

Needless to say, it'd been a long day. A long day that still wouldn't end, no matter how hard Angela tried to.

She brielfy looked over at Lena, with a bit of jealousy, as the young brit was sleeping comfortably, right next to her.

Eventually, Angela realized she wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

With an irritated sigh, she went out of bed, and found a morning gown in Max's closet, which luckily fit her perfectly.

As Angela walked towards the bedroom door, she hoped, almost wished, that Max was still up, so they could talk. Not about anything special, just to pass the time.

Angela quietly opened the bedroom door, but as she did, Lena's breath suddenly began to get faster, and she began to slightly thrash around.

Angela immediately turned her head, but when she did, Lena was sleeping just as quietly as before. Angela decided not to wake her up, and she simply left the bedroom.

She quietly walked the through the hallway, towards the living room. However, when she got there, she couldn't see Max anywhere.

Her first thought was that he had gone to bed, but when she looked at the coutch, she saw it was empty.

She looked around, but thankfully found him quickly.

He stood out on the balcony, looking up towards the night sky.

Angela simply walked out to him, and simply stood next to him. They stood like that for a few seconds, until Max, without turning his head towards her, asked Angela a question.

"They are beautiful though, aren't they? The stars."

"You can see them?" Angela asked, briefly believing it.

"No." Max admitted. "To me, it's all just a black veil over the world. But I remember what they look like. And I'll assume nothing's changed?"

"Yeah, nothing's changed." Angela confirmed with a small chuckle.

"Good, then they're still beautiful." Max said, in a weirdly sentimental way.

"Do you mind doing me a favor?" He asked, still with his head towards the sky.

"What is it?" Angela asked.

"Do you mind pointing out where the North Star is?" He asked. Even though it was a weird favor for Max to ask, Angela happily obliged, and quickly found it to their left.

"There." She said, as she pointed towards it.

"I see." Max said, as he followed the way Angela was pointing, thus making him look at the North Star.

"Since when did you have an interest in astronomy?" Angela curiosly asked.

"Never." Max simply answered, before elaborating. "But unlike most stars, the North Star has a purpose, a benefit, to knowing. Whenever you look at it, you immediately know where North, East, South and West is. And who knows how many lives that saved, before the invetion of things like GPS' or the compass."

"I see what you mean." Angela said, as she now understood Max interest in the star.

The two friends stood in a comfortable silnce, for a while, simply admiring the night sky together. But after a while, Max turned his head towards the streets below, and asked "Lena's sound asleep?"

"Yeah." Angela comfirmed, before asking "Did you tell her? About your blindness?"

"No." Max simply answered. "Like I said, I want to tell them all, at once."

"Mind if I ask why?" Angela carefully asked.

"Not in the slightest." Max answered. "If I tell them all at the same time, then they'll see I trust, or distrust, them all equally. If I went around and told everyone seperately, they'd think I played favorites."

"I see." Angela said, before adding "But... you told me before anyone else."

"That's because I trust more than anyone else." Max responded, before turning his head towards Angela.

"You were my only friend, growing up. I trust with my life, and I... wanted to make that clear to you. To let there be no doubt that what I think of you hasn't changed in the slightest." He said in a low voice, almost whispered.

"... Thanks." Was all Angela could really say. Once again, Max had left her speechless, but this time, it was because of completely different reasons.

Again, they stood in a silence, but this time, instead of looking at the sky, they looked at each other. And once again, Max was the one to speak first.

"Can't sleep?" He suddenly asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Angela admitted.

"Can't say I blame you." Max said. "You've had an... interesting pair of days."

"Tiring days." Angela corrected.

"If you say so." Max said, before suddenly shifting his gaze, so he looked Angela straight in the eyes, and asked "Anything specific?"

Angela was quiet for a few seconds, unsure of what to answer. Eventually, she turned towards the streets, and admitted "Yes." with a sigh.

"Even though I know you're right, that it was out of my power, I still can't stop blaming myself for your blindness. I still feel like I should've done something." She explained, with a heavy voice.

Max was initially silent, until he suddenly went over and stood right next to Angela.

"Don't." He simply answered.

"How?" Angela asked, with a bit of desperation.

"Because I don't want you to." Max answered, but that didn't really answer Angela's question, so she asked "What?"

"Though you might be it to others, I don't want you to be my guardian angel, who takes the blame for all my problems." Max elaborated. "I want you to be my friend. A friend, who don't torture herself over things she has no control over. A friend, who can sleep comfortably at night."

Max turned his head towards Angela, and added "See? You're not my guardian angel, you're my friend. So, from one friend to another, just don't."

Angela was silent for a little while, until she let out a sigh. Not a sigh of frustration, but one of relief.

"I see." She simply said.

Neither of them said anything for a while. Until Angela unexpectedly turned towards Max, and hugged him. However, unlike the tight hug they did in the doorway, this was softer. Gentler.

"What would I ever do without you?" Angela sighed, as she rested her head on Max's shoulder.

"What you always do: Save whoever you can, no matter the cost." Max responded.

Angela leaned back, and looked Max in the eyes, with a small smile on her face.

"Why do you always know what to say?" She playfully, yet slowly, asked him.

"It's my job." Max responded, in an equally soft, yet playful, way.

What followed, was another silence, but this one was different. It was the most comfortable, pleasant, one they'd experienced today. The two childhood friends simply stood and looked into each others eyes. Until Angela suddenly yawned.

"Feeling tired?" Max asked.

"Yeah." Angela admitted, and they both let go at the same time.

"I think I should go to bed." Angela said, before adding "As should you."

"I know." Max admitted, as Angela began to walk towards the door to the living room.

She opened the door, and as she was entering, she stopped in the doorway, and turned towards Max.

"Thanks." She simply said.

"What for?" Max asked, even though he was almost certain he knew the answer.

"For keeping the promise." She answered, before entering, and closing the door behind her, leaving Max alone, under the thousand stars, with a smile on his face.

* * *

 **A/N: As you might've noticed, these past few chapters have been coming out with very short breaks in between. And there are 2 reasons for that.  
1: My vacation has finally started, A.K.A. lots of spare time to write in.  
2: It's a kind of... compensation. Compensation for what? Well, during the next 3 weeks, I'll be in a foreign country, and because of that, I can't write while I'm there. So, if you're wondering why there's such a long period of inactivity, this is why. But be sure, once I get back, I'll get back to writing immediately. Thanks for understanding, and see you again in 3 weeks!**


	8. An Eventful Morning

**A/N: I'M BACK! And I'm writing this wearing my new kimono, so you can probably guess where I've been. That's pretty much all I had to say. Back to the story.**

* * *

When Max woke, he could feel the warmth of the sun shining through the window, across the living room, and onto his face.

Once he finally managed to get up from the coutch, he looked at the time, and saw that it was already 10 AM. Way later than he used to sleep. But then again, he did stay up longer than usual last night, talking with Angela on the balcony, so at least he had a good reason.

He quickly decided to get ready, before he had to leave for Overwatch.

Quietly, as to not wake Lena and Angela in case they were still sleeping, Max went down the hallway, towards the bedroom.

He opened the door to the bedroom, and peeked inside. Angela was lying on the bed, still peacefully asleep. Lena, however, couldn't be seen anywhere. She was probably already up.

Max quietly entered, and opened the closet. He quickly found a pair of pants, as well as a white shirt.

Once he was done dressing, Max left Angela to sleep, and started heading towards the bathroom.

Not really paying attention to his surroundings, instead being almost lost on his thoughts, Max nonchalantly opened the door to the bathroom. However, when he did, he was greeted by a surprise.

"Gah, Max!" Lena shouted in surprise. Even though Max was equally surprised, he hid it a lot better than Lena. "Oh, Lena, I'm sorry." He apologized, but even then, Lena looked kinda nervous.

At first, Max didn't get why. But when he looked at her more thoroughly, he saw why. She was still only in her sleepng outfit: A loose t-shirt, and a pair of knickers.

"Oh." Max said. "I'm sorry. If you find this weird or intruding or anything like that, I'll just leave." He suggested.

"Wait." Lena said, and Max very slightly tilted his head. "This... isn't weird for you? Seeing someone you just met yesterday half naked?" She asked.

"To be honest, no." Max answered, with a small shrug.

"Really? why?" Lena asked, as the nervousness started to dissapear from her.

"I just don't see the point in being ashamed over it, since we, at least somewhat, know each other." Max said. "I mean, you'd been completely naked, then it would've been a bit wierd. But I think we know each other well enough to not be ashamed over such things." He elaborated.

Though what he said wasn't a lie, it wasn't the whole truth either. One of the things Max struggled to see properly, with his device, was how much clothing a person was wearing, since it could very easily blend together with the skin. So over they years, he'd become more or less indifferent to it.

"I see..." Lena said, as she got a thoughtful expression on her face. "So... you're fine with seeing me like this?" She carefully asked.

"As long as you are." Max simply responded.

Lena let out a small sigh, before asking. "'Kay then. Well, what did you come here for?"

"Oh, I was just going to get ready for the day." Max answered.

"Well, knock yourself out." Lena said, as she took a step to the side, making room for Max at the sink. Max simply nodded, and stood next to her.

For the next couple of minutes, Max and Lena just stood and got ready in silence, both of them focusing on their own actions. However, as Max was about to leave, he noticed something about Lena.

"Didn't sleep very well?" He asked, as he stood in the doorframe, and looked at Lena.

She briefly looked at him, before looking in the mirror and asking "What makes you think that?" in a surprisingly defensive tone.

"Your posture mainly." Max said. "Your shoulders are slumped down, and you're supporting yourself on the sink a lot. Both leads to you being tired. But with how exhausted you were during yesterdays evening, you should've slept deeply, and be well rested today. But you aren't. Which leads to the conclusion that the sleep itself wasn't very good."

"You're right." Lena answered with a dry laugh, that eventually turned into a deep sigh.

They stood in silence for a little while, until Max asked "Memory or nightmare?"

Lena was silent for a few seonds, until she hung her head and answered. "Both."

Max nodded, as he realized that, whatever Lena was talking about, was something he could help her with. But it would take a lot more than a conversation in a bathroom to do it, so he decided to let it be, until she was well rested.

"I see..." Max thoughtfully said.

"Well, I've got some preparations to make, so I'll see you later." He said.

"See ya." Lena responded, and with that, Max closed the door to the bathroom.

* * *

Angela slowly opened her eyes, and looked around. She was completely alone in the bedroom. Lena was gone, and from the half-open closet, she could see that Max had already been in here.

She got out of bed, and quickly found the clothes from yesterday.

She got dressed, and exited out into the hallway, where the sound of someone humming, and the smell of breakfast being cooked hit her.

Suddenly feeling compelled to go faster, Angela walked through the hallway, and into the living room.

To her left stood Lena, who was making breakfast, and out on the balcony Max stood and was on his phone.

"'Morning, doc!" Lena called out, in her usual cheerful self.

"'Morning." Angela greeted back, as she made her way into the kitchen.

"So, what are you making?" Angela curiously asked, as she felt her stomach rumble.

"Just some scrambled eggs, and a bit of bacon." Lena casually answered. "There wasn't really a whole lot in the fridge, but then again, he didn't expect anyone to come over." She continued.

"Much less you." She then added, with a mischievious smile, as she looked at Angela out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah. Yesterday was full of surprises." Angela responded, with a forced smile.

They stood in silence for a few seconds, where Angela looked at Max, who was moving back and forth on the balcony, while talking into his phone.

"Anything I can help with?" Angela asked, mostly just to break the silence.

"There isn't really anything I need help with in the kitchen, but you could start to set the table." Lena suggested. Angela nodded in agreement, and quickly found a couple of plates in the cabinets.

The following couple of minutes was spent in silence, as Lena finished the food, and Angela sat the table. However, after a while, Angela couldn't contain her curiosity and asked Lena "Did he say who he's talking on the phone with?"

"He just said that he was going to call his patients." Lena explained with a shrug, as she put the eggs on a plate.

"I wonder what he'll say to them." Angela pondered, as she finished setting the table.

"That I'm helping an old friend in need." Max said, which startled both Angela and Lena, since none of them had seen him finish. "I'm not lying." He added, with a small grin, as everyone took a seat around the table.

"No, but it's not the whole truth either." Angela pointed out.

"If I told them the whole truth, that I was helping a member of the new Overwatch, they'd think I was lying, only to take some time off." Max explained, and both Angela and Lena ended up nodding in agreement. If someone told them something like that, without any proof, they'd also think it was a lie.

Most of the breakfast went without any conversation. Everyone just mainly focused on eating their food. However, when they were almost done, Max asked "So, anything I should know about, in Overwatch?"

"What, exactly do you mean?" Lena asked.

"Are there any do's or don't's I should know about in advance?" Max clarified.

"Well..." Lena started, as she fell into a thoughtful silence.

"Normally, I would say that a lot of them have personal, not to mention sensitive, things in their past they wouldn't normally talk about." Angela said. "But, due to the reason you're even there..." "... I'll need to touch on those sensitive pasts." Max finished.

"Yeah." Angela admitted with a notably heavy voice.

"There are still a few things you should probably keep in mind, though." Lena said.

"Like what?" Max curiously asked.

"Well, Torbjorn gets pretty upset if you call him something like a norwegian, or a... what was it? Dane?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, Dane." Angela comfirmed. "Basically, make sure to only call him swedish." She then summarized.

"Ok." Max noted. "Anything else?"

"Well, don't insult David Hasselhoff when Reinhardt is around, don't say spirituality, inner peace and such things, are nonsense when Genji can hear you and don't normally take McCree too seriously." Lena said.

"I think that's about it." She then said.

"Sounds managable enough." Max said, before returning to his food.

Now, at least, he was a little bit more prepared for the, frankly quite intimidating task, that was laid before him, Max thought to himself.

* * *

It was almost 12 AM, when the Overwatch dropship finally appeared in the sky, over Klopstockweise Park, where Lena, Angela and Max were standing and waiting.

The park, which had been practically untouched by the omnic crisis, was only a few minutes away from Max's apartment, which made it an obvious choice for a pickup spot.

"About time they got here." Lena remarked to herself.

Max and Angela simply stood quietly on each side of her, as they watched the dropship land in front of them.

With a small metallic _click_ the dropship landed. It was quickly followed by the door on the side opening, revealing Winston.

"Hey, big guy!" Lena greeted him, as she almost ran up to the gorilla, and hugged him.

"Hey, Lena. Angela." Winston greeted back, as he returned the hug. However, Max could hear Winston wasn't very focused on her.

"Winston." Angela simply returned, with a smile and crossed arms.

After a few seconds, Winston let go of Lena, and she took a small step back.

"Just head inside." Winston said to Lena. The brit simply nodded, before heading into the dropship, and out of view for Max and Angela.

"Now then, Angela..." Winston started, now directed at Angela. "... I believe there are some introductions to be made." He finished, with a small grin on his face.

"Indeed." Angela confirmed before taking a deep breath, and un-crossing her arms.

"Winston, this is Max, my old friend." She said, as she gradually turned towards Max.

"Max..." Angela then said. "... this is Winston. He was a member of the original Overwatch, and the closest we have to a leader right now." She then said.

"Pleasure to meet you. Though I wish it were under better circumstances." Winston greeted, as he extended his paw.

"Likewise." Max simply responded, as he shook Winston's paw with his free hand.

Winston turned around, and invited Max into the dropship. "I assume you've been briefed?" He then asked.

"I know the general outlines, but not many details, to be honest." Max explained, as he stepped into the dropship. He was quickly followed by Winston and then Angela.

"Athena, we're ready." Winston said, and a feminine voice promptly responded.

"Understood." It said, before the dropship suddenly began take-off. When Winston turned around, he saw Max had a curious expression on his face.

"Athena's an AI." He quickly explained. "She controls most of our electronics, and monitor our communications. Well, most of our communications." He added, with an unconvincing smile.

As Max put his briefcase on one of the seats along the walls, Winston asked "Any questions before we get to the base?"

"A few." Max admitted, before leaning against the wall.

"First off, how did..." Max started, but he was abrubtly cut off, by and old gravely voice behind him.

"Didn't realize we were picking up a blind guy." It said, and when Max turned around, he was face-to-face, or rather face-to-visor, with Soldier 76.

"76..." Winston started, but he was silenced by Max, holding up a hand.

He took a deep breath, as he stared right back into 76's visor. "Nice visor." Max simply commented.

A small grunt was all that escaped 76's mouth, before he turned around and sat down on the opposite end of the dropship.

"That was... an unexpected response, to say the least." Winston commented, but, to his surprise, Max simply kept standing, and only let out a sigh.

Confused, Winston turned towards Angela.

"He... has a lot of experience with bullies." She simply said, in a low voice.

Winston nodded, before turning towards Max, who was now facing him.

"About the question I had..." Max said and Winston nodded. He understood this was a something Max didn't really like discussing, so he just let him move on.

"I was wondering if I could see the message that revealed the traitor, once we reach the base?" Max asked.

"Sure. Though I don't know how much you can get out of it, I don't see any reason why not." Winston admitted.

"Thanks." Max said, before sitting down on his seat. Winston was about to head towards the cockpit, when Max suddenly said something unexpected.

"Oh, and one other thing. Is it possible to have all the things that are usually on things like datapads, be on physical paper?"

"Er, I... think so... why?" Winston asked. He thought it was a very unusual request, since datapads could hold so much more, and almost no one used physical paper anymore.

"I'll tell you when we get there, but until then, just know that it'll make my job so much easier." Max responded.

Winston was quiet for a few seconds, as he tried to remember whether they even had such things at the base. "I'll see to it when we get there." Winston eventually said, and Max nodded in appreciation.

As Winston went into the cockpit, where Lena was waiting, Max opened his briefcase. From where Angela was sitting, she could see that it contained a lot of papers, as well as some books, and a musical device.

"I just need to prepare some things, before we get there." Max explained to her.

"Go ahead." Angela said.

Max nodded, before returning to his briefcase, where he pulled out a couple of headphones, a pen and some papers. He put the headphones in his ears, and closed the briefcase, so he could put the papers on it.

As he began to scribble down things Angela couldn't see, he started to silently sing along with the song.

* * *

 **A/N: If you think this chapter is a bit shorter than the previous ones, I have a reason for that. It was originally supposed to be longer, but I changed the sequence of events so that the story could flow better, and make just a little bit more sense. And one last thing: It feels damn good to be back.**


	9. Arrival

After almost 2 hours of flying through the skies, Winston once again appeared.

"Alright, we're almost at the base." He said, as everyone's eyes were on him.

"Once we land, I'll call a meeting where we'll indroduce you to the rest of us." Winston continued, as his eyes turned towards Max, who nodded.

"Lena, I'd appreciate it, if you blinked ahead, and made sure everyone was ready and present. This is something everyone needs to be a part of." Winston continued.

"Sure thing, big guy!" Lena responded, with her usual cheerful smile.

Winston took a deep breath, before turning his attention back to Max. "When we're in there, then there'll likely be a lot of questions for you."

Max simply nodded in agreement.

"I simply want you to answer as many of them as possible, as to earn everyone's trust. We are putting an important task on your shoulders, after all." Winston said, with an encouraging smile. "When either there aren't any more questions, or you feel like you can't answer anymore, you just need to say what you'll need to get started."

"Don't worry, I will." Max reassured.

"And 76..." Winson said, as the soldier looked back at him with an unpleasant look. "... try to remember that this area is Max's expertise."

"Like hell, Overwach is some random guys expertise!" 76 objected.

"I wasn't talking about Overwatch." Winston shot back. "I was talking about the minds of the people in it."

"Yeah, what makes you think someone who just met them, knows them better than someone who's fought alongside them for almost 1 year?" 76 continued to defy.

"Ask Lena that question, if you need proof." Max suddenly said, which made 76 turn his gaze towards the young brit.

"Me?" Lena asked, as she seemed to become nervous under 76's intense gaze. Max simply nodded, which made Lena sigh, before she turned towards 76.

"Reading you like an open book, almost doesn't cover it." Lena eventually said. "Believe me when I say that, I was sceptical at first too, but... he's more than proved himself as someone who knows what he's talking about."

Under Lena's explanation, Max noticed she intentionally avoided looking back at 76.

The old soldier was quiet for a few seconds, until he eventually spoke. "If you say so." He said, not sounding completely convinced. "It's not like I have any choice, anyway." He added, with a heavy voice.

"In this matter, I'm afraid not." Winston confirmed.

76 simply slumbed back in his seat, and crossed his arms, as Winston turned towards Max.

"I'm sorry for that." The gorilla simply apologized, before turning back towards the cockpit, and putting a hand over his forehead, as if he had a headache.

As he began heading back into the cockpit, Max could hear him mumble "I swear to god, he'll be the death of me."

Max was simply quiet for a few seconds, as he got a thoughtful expresion on his face. Eventually, he turned towards Angela, and asked "How long have this been going on?"

"Pretty much since the day 76 got here." Angela explained. "76 is an amazing commander in the field, but almost anywhere else, he just makes things worse." She added.

"I see." Max said, while he turned his head towards the soldier, who was looking right back at them.

* * *

After a few more minutes of flying, the base finally came into view through the windows.

Out of curiosity, Angela looked at Max with a questioning look. Max immediately knew what she was curious, and answered her by subtly shaking his head. He couldn't see through glass.

Angela nodded, before turning away. As the dropship began landing, she began to think about what it was like, seeing the way Max was. It must be difficult, she tought to herself.

However, she wouldn't be able to wonder for long. The dropship landed with a small shake, whitch threw her out of her thoughts.

"Here we are." Winston said, as the door opened, revealing an empty landing area.

"I've already sent the meeting request." Winston continued. "Lena, would you?"

"On my way!" She said. One bright blue flash later, and Lena was gone, with the a blue line leading inside, before starting to fade.

Winston let out a low chuckle, before the group started following the same path as Lena, towards the meeting room.

"So, what do you think of the place?" Winston curiosly asked Max, who seemed to be looking around a lot.

"Embedded in the side of the rock..." Max mumbled to himself, only Angela being able to hear him clearly. "Harder to sneak up on... One way out, one way in... Vulnerable to air strike, but... less disturbances." He continued to mumble.

"I like it." He concluded, as he turned to Winston.

"I'm happy to hear that. You will be spending some time here after all." Winston replied, with a smile.

"Humor..." Max mumbled to himself, once again only in earshot of Angela.

"What?" Winston asked, to which Max quickly responded "Nothing important."

A mocking grunt escaped 76's otherwise quiet mouth, which earned him a short glare from Angela.

The team walked the rest of the way in silence. It only took a few minutes, until they reached the door to the meeting room. However, when they did, Max suddenly stopped, and held up a hand, signaling the others to do the same.

76 was about to question why they stopped, when they heard why Max had stopped.

"No offense Lena, but I'm finding your description of him a bit hard to believe." McCree's voice sounded from inside the room.

"Oh, come on!" Lena's voice then sounded. "I lived under the same roof as him, I know what he's like." She argued.

"For 16 hours." McCree argued back. "Of which you were only awake, like, 6 or 7 of them."

"Oh, come one, that's unfair!" Lena almost shouted. "He was very open about everything, plus, he's Angela's childhood friend! He wouldn't do anything that could harm her!"

Max quickly looked at Angela, who was looking back at him.

"And the rest of us?" McCree asked.

"McCree..." Reinhardt suddenly intervened. "Don't you think you're being just a little bit stubborn? Try and keep an open mind." He urged.

"I'm with McCree on this." Genji suddenly also joined. "We are putting such an important task on someone we barely know's shoulders."

"But, listen to me!" Lena tried. "Both me and Angela know him! He can..."

"Lena, I respect both you and dr. Ziegler," Genji interrupted her. "But I thought I knew my brother! And then he did this to me!"

"Genji please," Reinhardt tried again. "I believe it's uncalled for, to compare Max to Hanzo. Most of us don't know anything about him, and if what Lena's saying is true, which I believe, then he really sounds like he could..."

76's patience was over, and he abrubtly opened the door to the room, immediately letting everyone know they were there.

"There you are." Lena exclaimed in a relived voice.

Everyone immediately began taking seats around the table. Max ended up sitting between Angela and Winston.

As he was sitting down, and opening his briefcase for something, Max exclaimed "You know that door isn't soundproof, right?" out loud, so everyone could hear it.

Though he kept his eyes on his briefcase, Max noticed McCree and Genji looking a bit more nervous, out of the corner of his eye.

After a few, admittedly awkward, seconds, Winston coughed, and everyone looked towards him.

"Now then," Winston started. "I believe we all know why we're here."

Almost everyone nodded.

"This..." Winston said. "... is Max. You all know why he is here, and so does he, so I won't drag on about it. I'll just simply let him present himself, and then you can ask some questions."

As he was about to sit down, he noted "And do try to keep an open mind." as he looked in the general direction of McCree and Genji.

Max then stood up, and everyone's eyes switched to him. "Before anything else, I would like to correct a mistake Winston made." Max started, which resulted in a confused expression from Winston. "Even though he probably couldn't have helped it, with what information he had."

Max took a deep breath, before continuing. "My name, technically, isn't Max. Max is more of a nickname, a... shortend version, of my full name: Maximilian Dallenbach Edmondson. Though, as you can probably hear, Max is much easier to say, so I would still prefer if you used that."

"Now then..." Max then continued, while putting his hands behind his back. "... as far as I know, the reason I'm here, is because you've recently acquired the information that one of you isn't who they say they are. And I'm here to determine who this is. Correct?"

A few people, including Lena, Lucio and Reinhardt, nodded. "However, to do so, I'll need to get to know everyone in here, on a very personal level. This task will, at the very least, take a month, or up to several months, which is more likely. I will also need to know the relationships between everyone, how you interact, and who you do it with most."

"This will, as an unforunate consequence, highly reduce the amount of private conversations you'll be able to have. Almost down to 0, in fact. Now, from what I've heard so far, there will very likely be objections to this, but before you try to talk me out of it, remember: The less I'm allowed access to, the longer time it'll take for me to determine who the traitor is. Time, during which the traitor can continue to throw a wrench into things." Max continued.

As Max finished his speech, and took in a few deep breaths, he noticed that many of the people around the table had begun to look at him with more intrigue than before.

"That is all I had to say, any questions?" Max asked, and someone immediately asked.

"Yeah, what makes you more qualified for this?" 76 asked.

"The expected question from the expected suspect." Max mumbled, as he turned towards 76.

"Well, first off, aside from my qualifications, I'm a pair of fresh eyes, that can look at you all equally from day 1. And with my qualifications, I can immediately see if someone's behavior doesn't match their personality, or if they're acting different from one day to another." Max explained, with a slightly cold tone.

"Except you wont." 76 unexpectedly shot back. "You're a childhood friend of Angela. You're biased when it comes to her." He continued, which earned him another, more intense, glare from Angela.

"While that is true, there are 2 points you're forgetting. First, no one in here isn't biased when it comes to Angela, since we're all friends with her." Max argued back. "I assume." He added, as he looked at 76.

"And second," He continued. "How many in here do actually think Angela's a possibility for the traitor?" He asked, as he looked out over everyone at the table.

No one raised their hands, just as Max expected. "See?" He asked back at 76, who didn't have anything more to say.

"Now that the expected is over, anything else?" Max then asked.

"Um, just, what are your qualifications exactly?" Mei asked. "Just curious." She added.

"It's fine." Max assured her. "Well, I have a masters degree in behavioural, personality and evolutionary psychology, as well as in mathematics. Psychology has also been a lifelong passion of mine, ever since childhood, and I have the number of several patients on my phone, who will vouch for my abilities."

"Any further questions?" Max asked, after a short silence.

"Is it possible for you to give a demonstration?" Fareeha asked.

"A... demonstration?" Max curiosly asked.

"Yeah, a demonstration." Fareeha confirmed. "You know, so we know how you work." She continued.

Max briefly chuckled, before he explained "While I would, admittedly, love to do that, I'm afraid I can't. At least not right now." with a small grin on his face.

"Why not?" Fareeha continued to push.

"Because I haven't got enough information to do a proper demonstration yet." Max explained. "If I would try to analyse one of you, right here and now, I would have to come to a conclusion, purely based on body language, and a few words here and there. And while those things can sometimes be enough, it can also just as easily lead me astray. And when it comes to such an important matter as this, I don't want to take chances."

Max was quiet for a few seconds, as to let it all sink in, when Lena said something unexpected.

"How about you demonstrate it on me?" She asked, and Max turned his head towards her, with a slightly baffled expression.

"We have more history than most, so why not demonstrate it with me?" Lena continued.

Max looked like he was considering it, for a few seconds. Eventually, he unexpectedly adressed the entire room.

"I want you all to be completely honest now." He said, to everyone. "If I was to analyse Lena's personality, how many of you would think it was predetermined, that we've already decided what to say?"

At first, not many raised their hands, so Max decided to ask it differently. "Let me put it this way." He said. "How many in here would believe that, at the very least one of us, would change our answers, or questions, to make the demonstration more... exciting, I believe the right word would be."

Now, more raised their hands.

"See?" Max asked Lena. "The fact that we have more history is both a good thing and a bad thing."

"Yeah." Lena admitted, as she looked rather defeated.

After a few seconds, Max asked "More questions?"

"Yes." Torbjorn said, and Max shifted his gaze towards the swedish engineer. "Why are you wearing those sunglasses?"

"Ah yes, I was waiting for that question." Max admitted, before straightening his back.

"Well, to be honest, I'm blind." Max said, way more casually than everyone expected.

"What?!" Soldier 76, Fareeha and, loudest of all, Lena asked.

"Well, I'll admit, that's an oversimplification." Max said. "I think I'll just start from the beginning." He said, before taking a deep breath.

"I am born with a disease called retinitis pigmentosa. It's a type of disease that causes gradual decay in the light-sensitive cells in my eyes, whitch eventually leads to blindness." Max explained, with a calm voice. "That is also why Angela didn't say anything about it. At the time we parted ways, it'd only gotten so bad that I needed glasses."

"But... can't you get surgery to fix it?" Mei asked.

"Technically, yes. But due to the nature of the disease, the cells would eventually just decay to the point of blindness again." Max continued to explain.

"And what prevents you from just getting another surgery, when that happends?" Lena carefully asked.

Out of the corner of his eye, Max noticed Angela hanging her head, but he didn't draw any attention to it. "Because then I would be living a life where, everytime I go to bed, I'd be afraid to wake up, and not be able to see. Is that a life you want to live?" Max rhetorically asked.

"No, it isn't." Lena simply answered.

"But then how the hell did you see my visor?!" 76 asked.

"See, that is were these things come in." Max said, as he briefly touched his sunglasses, before showing the device behind his ear.

"This, behind my ear, is an infrasonic emitter, that sends out an infrasonic soundwave once every second. That soundwave then bounces off the different things around me: The table, the roof, you. They then bounce back towards the glasses that recieve them, and sends it to the emitter, which then translates it into an image, that gets sent directly to my brain." Max explained.

"Echolocation." Winston summarized.

"Excatly!" Max acknowledged.

"Any more questions?" Max asked, but, as expected, no one said anything.

"Very well then, I believe that's everything." Max said, before turning towards Winston.

Winston was quiet for a few seconds, until he looked back at Max. "Yes. I have to discuss a few things, with someone in here. In the meantime, I'll have Fareeha show you your room."

"Sounds good." Max said, and as he began to pack his briefcase, Lena suddenly intervened. "Can I go with them?" She asked.

Winston seemed to consider it for a few seconds, before agreeing. "Sure, I don't see why not." He answered, and Max immediately knew what Lena wanted out of this.

* * *

The door to Max's room opened, and the 3 people stepped inside. The room was similar to Angela's, only darker, and with more dust lying around.

"So this is where I'm staying?" Max curiosly asked, as he examined the room.

"You don't like it?" Fareeha asked, not sounding very hurt though.

"Not really. I don't know what I expected, to be honest." Max admitted, before turning towards the two women.

"So, anything I should know about?" He asked.

"Well, your computer is connected to the Overwatch database, which gives you access to all the files we've been able to recover from this old place." Fareeha explained. "There's also a daily schedule in your desk. It isn't really one you need to follow, but more of a guideline for where we can be found at different times. And I think that's all you need to know for now."

"Thanks." Max simply said, before lying his briefcase on his desk.

"I'll just need to check some systems, and then you can be alone." Fareeha said, and as she turned towards the bathroom, Max asked "Isn't the entire base online, all the time?"

"Well no." Fareeha responded. "When Winston found it a couple of years ago, it was completely shut down. And as to not overload the old reactors, we only activate new rooms when they are needed."

"I see." Max said, and Fareeha simply shrugged, before heading into the bathroom, leaving Max and Lena alone.

The room was completely quiet, as Max opened his briefcase, and took out some things, before turning towards Lena.

He let out a small sigh, before Lena asked "You already know why I asked to be here, right?"

"You're curious about why I kept my blindness a secret from you." Max answered, and Lena simply nodded.

"Yes..." Lena started. "... but that's not everything. Angela didn't seem the least bit surprised. You already told her, right?"

"Yes." Max simply responded, since he wasn't one to keep secrets.

"Why?" Lena simply asked, with a hurt voice.

"Because, I'm supposed to evaluate everyone of you equally. If I'd told you before the rest, they'd think I was playing favorites." Max explained, in a calm voice.

"But you were playing favorites. With Angela! And you said, we knew each other." Lena argued.

"Yes, I was, but please try to understand this." Max continued in a calm voice. "I don't like secrets, or the people that have them. Angela is my childhood friend, and keeping this a secret for you was already something I found difficult to justify. With her, I just couldn't. Plus, while the two of us know each other, it's unfortunatly nowhere near the level of understanding me and Angela have developed over several years."

Max was silent for a few seconds, until he continued. "That's... really all I can say in my defence. But believe me when I say: I promise I won't hold anymore secrets."

"You promise?" Lena asked, with disbelief in her voice, but also a bit of surprise.

"I promise." Max simply repeated, while also nodding.

"Well, I suppose those aren't the worst reasons, I've heard." Lena said, before sighing and admitting "Alright."

"Great." Max said, before adding "Now, how about we just forget about this?"

"That's a-okay with me." Lena answered, with some of her usual cheerfulness back in her voice.

Max nodded with a smile, which also made Lena smile.

"Everything alright in here?" Fareeha suddenly asked, from the bathroom.

"Yes." Lena anwered, as she turned towards Fareeha. "We're done here."

"Great, then let's get going." Fareeha said, and the two women began moving towards the door. As it opened and they were about to walk through, Max suddenly said "And Lena?"

"Yes?" Lena said, while turning around.

"You were remarkably observant." Max commented, as he looked at her, over his shoulder. "I don't think many, if any, of the others noticed Angela's indifference."

"I... thanks." Lena responded, stumbling slightly over her words.

Max simply smiled, before returning to his work, while Lena left him alone to do so, a little more red in the face, than when she entered.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize for the amount of repeats in this chapter, but we needed the rest of Overwatch to catch up, before any proper investigation could begin. But know that Max will, very soon, begin his investigation.**


	10. The Next Move

Max stood, completely alone in his new room, and just tried to take in everything that had happened.

Reuniting with Angela, telling her about his blindness, agreeing to help Overwatch, and now. Now he was in a completely different country, in a base with people he barely knew, and who tasked him with indirectly saving them.

"Well, I should probably get started." Max mumbled to himself. He decided to check out the schedule Fareeha had spoken about first.

Slowly, Max opened the first drawer in the desk. Empty, apart from one thing: His very own wristwatch. He grapped it, and, quite quickly, found out how to attach it to his arm.

Unlike the first one, the second one had much more than one thing in it, and Max saw that Winston had pulled through, after all. In the drawer was a bunch of papers.

He curiosly picked up the first one, and, with a mix of running his fingers along it and his glasses, he was able to determine that this was the schedule.

As Max was examining it, however, something else caught his attention, out of the corner of his eye. In the drawer, that was still open, a rather large piece of paper was lying. And when Max picked it up, he noticed that, unlike the other papers, which were freshly printed, this seemed older.

At first, Max couldn't figure out what it was saying, but then it dawned on him. This wasn't a bunch of text, this was a map of the base.

Immediately intrigued, Max began to examine the map closely. Not only so he could navigate without relying on the help of others, but also so he could find any rooms, or facilities, that might come in handy.

After almost fifteen minutes of examination, Max had almost memorized every single detail. Both the immediately useful rooms, like the dining hall, training area and the personal rooms, and the seemingly less important rooms, like the interrogation room and the testing site for experimantal tech.

"Now then..." Max continued to mumble to himself, as he packed the map away.

Max was about to close the drawer, when yet another thing caught his attention.

This time, it was a stack of papers, all compiled into one single folder, while another, equally large, stack was lying under it, also in a single folder, with a few loose papers under it.

Curious, Max picked them up, and immediately saw a single label on each of them. The first read 'Background Information', while the second read 'Psych Profiles'.

Max briefly put the one labeled 'Background Information' away, so he could concentrate on the other one. He opened it, and saw that it was a disorganized mess of old and new papers. And as he examined the individual papers more closely, he confirmed that this was a bunch of psychological analyses, of the different members of this Overwatch.

That also explained the different ages of the papers. Some were newcomers to Overwatch, and as such, their analyses were brand new, whereas others were old veterans, that had been analysed years, even decades, ago.

As Max continued to read, he eventually sighed, and put the papers back in the folder. This was something he needed to speak with Winston about.

Now that he was done with that one, Max opened the one labeled 'Background Information', and just as he expected, this was the background for all the members of this Overwatch.

"Now this might actually be useful." He mumbled, as he also packed this back into the folder.

Max quickly searched the rest of the desk, but found nothing of interest. He then quickly grapped the 'Psych Profiles' folder, and turned around, so he could lean against the table.

He briefly looked at it, before looking up, and saying out loud "So that's what I need to do firs..."

However, he was abrubtly interrupted in his talking, when the sound of Angela's voice came from the door. "Max?" She asked, however, Max couldn't hear in what tone.

"Yes?" Max asked back, as he put the folder back on the table.

The door to his room opened, and Angela stepped inside. "Winston just wanted to know whether you had a plan ready?" She explained.

"I do." Max said. "But couldn't he have come here himself?" He added, with a curios expression.

"Yeah, he could, but... I offered to come here instead." Angela explained, as Max noticed he began to move around nervously.

"Is something the matter?" Max sincerely asked, a little bit worried over Angela's behavior.

"No. At least, not yet." Angela explained, before looking straight into Max's eyes. "I just... wanted to know how you're holding up. A lot has happened to you recently, and I was, after all, the one that suggested you. But I don't want to see you overencumbered or pushed too far. Because of me."

"Angela, please..." Max started, with a small grin. "You know me. I'm not one to walk away when my abilities could be of help. Especially when it's as important as this. Besides, I like to think I know my limits."

"I know." Angela started. "But you know I would blame myself if anything happened to you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you." Max answered, before adding "But it's not like I'm going into the field with you."

Although Max could see that Angela found his remark funny, it didn't ease her up much, so he tried somehting different.

"How about this?" Max asked, as he got up from his desk, and took a few steps closer to her. "If I ever feel like something's wrong, if I feel overencumbered, or anything like that, then I come to you immediately. No excuses, I just let you know straight away."

Angela let out a low sigh, before admitting "That sounds good."

"Great." Max said, as he gave her an encouraging smile.

Angela smiled back, and ligthly shaked her head, before changing the subject. "So, about the plan you said you had. Are you ready to present it to Winston?"

"Indeed. I just need to grap a few things." Max answered, before turning around and heading towards his desk.

He quickly reached it, and grapped the two folders, but as he was about to turn around, Angela asked "Do you want me to show you the way?"

"No thanks. I already know it." Max casually answered, since his focus was mostly on what he was going to say to Winston.

"You do?" Angela asked. Max quickly grapped the map he'd been studying, and held it up for her.

"Oh, ok." She said, and to Max's surprise, her voice sounded a little bit hurt. At first he didn't know why, but then he realized: The way he'd declined her offer, could've sounded like he shunned her away.

Max internally kicked himself, as he put down the map, and hastily said "But I would still appreciate it if you walked it with me."

Angela immediately lightend up, and smiled at him. But her smile had a little bit of mischievousness in it, and Max realized what she'd done. He let out a sigh, and asked "You were messing wit me, weren't you?"

Angela let out a low chuckle, before explaining "Sorry, but I just couldn't help myself."

"I see there are some things we'll never grow out of." Max exclaimed, as he smiled back at her.

"Apparently not." Angela admitted. "Well, you ready?"

Max nodded, and together they went out of his room, and started heading towards Winston's lab.

* * *

"So this is it?" Max asked. Him and Angela were standing in front of the door to Winstons lab, after a rather quiet walk.

"Yes, it is." Angela confirmed. There was a couple of silent seconds, before she turned towards Max.

"I guess I should get going." She said, but as she walked past Max, he unexpectedly grapped her arm, with his free hand.

"I would actually prefer it if you accompanied me, in there." Max said. Angela turned towards him, with a questioning look, but Max simply looked back with an encouraging smile.

"Sure." Angela said, as he let go of her arm. "It's your decision, after all." She added.

"I said I would prefer it. You're free to go, if you so please." Max said, to whitch Angela hastily responded "I'm completely fine with this."

Max nodded, before opening the door, revealing Winston and Soldier 76 in a seemingly deep conversation. "Ah, there you are." Winston exclaimed, as he and 76 began to approach them.

Max simply nodded, and as he entered the lab, he put the 'Background Information' folder on a table, so that he was only holding the 'Psych Profiles' folder.

Winston gestured towards a makeshift table, and Max sat down and put the folder in front of him, as everyone else also took their seats.

"Max..." Winston started, and Max folded his hands in front of him. "I thought it would be a good idea for 76 to be here, so he could answer any questions you might have about anyone's performance in the field." He explained.

Max briefly looked over at 76, before he looked back at Winston, and said "Even though I don't have any questions of that sort yet, he's welcome to stay, in case such a question appear."

Winston nodded, before asking "So, what is your plan?"

"To be honest, it isn't that different from what I said back in the meeting." Max started. "I'll mostly just observe how everyone behaves with each other, and mainly search for any inconsistencies. And when I'm sure, I'll bring it to you. But only when I'm 100% sure."

"That does sound like the most logical thing to do." Winston acknowledged, in a heavy voice. But as he was about to ask another question, 76 interrupted.

"What is that, between your arms?" He asked, and Max looked down at the 'Psych Profiles' folder.

"Oh, this?" Max asked, as held up the folder, letting everyone know what it was. "That was going to be my next point." He added.

"Before I can begin examining anyone, I'll need to know everyone I'm working with. Specifically, their personality." Max said, and as he put down the folder on the middle of the table, he added "That means this folder is completely, and utterly, useless to me."

"Why can't you just use that?" 76 asked, but to Angela's surprise, it wasn't taunting, but merely curious. "Wouldn't it also save more time?" He added.

"While I technically could, I would strongly advise against it." Max admitted.

"Why?" Winston was now the one to ask.

"Because the descriptions, the... way of using words, is different from mine. Take the word 'kill' for example. For you..." Max said, as he gestured towards 76. "... it's a word that doesn't weigh heavily on you, due to how often you kill in the field, how normal the act of killing is for you. But for you..." Max then said directed at Angela. "... it's a much more severe word. It has much more of an impact on you, due to how opposed you are to killing."

Max briefly paused, as he looked down at the folder, before looking back up.

"It may be written in a language I can read, but not one I can understand. At least not when it comes to psychology." He summarized.

"I see..." Winston said, before asking "Well, what do you want to do about it?"

"It's quite simple, in fact." Max said, before leaning back in his chair. "I want a one-on-one conversation with every single member."

There was a brief pause, before Winston spoke. "Okay. I can see how that could work, but... where do we do it?" He asked, and before Max had a chance to answer, 76 added another question.

"It wouldn't be hard to think that a fair few of us wouldn't be up for that. How do you intend to convince them?" He said.

Max took a deep breath, before answering. "As for where we do it, I think the interrogation room, unfortunetly, is the best place to do it."

"The interrogation room?" Winston asked.

"Yeah. I imagine that the two of you could be on the other side of the one-way-mirror, and if you notice anything about the person I'm talking with, you can say so." Max explained. "It would also be a private enough location, so that the they could feel safe enough to discuss some of the more sensitive topics."

Max was quiet for a few seconds, until he added "About how I'll convince everyone, don't worry, I have a plan."

"Well, I'm guessing we don't really have a choice." 76 said, but to his surprise, Max responded. "Actually, you do."

76 looked back at him questioningly, and Max explained. "Everything I'm doing here is technically just advice, for how we should do this. You still have the final say."

Everyone was quiet for a while, as both Winston and 76 got a thoughtful expression. The silence was eventually broken by Winston.

"While that is good to know, I think we'll continue with following your advice." He said. "Anything else?" He then asked.

"Not at this point in time. At least not when it comes to my plans." Mac responded.

"Well then. How do you want to proceed with these 'conversations'?" Winston then asked.

"I'd like you to ask Lena to meet me in the observation room, next to the interrogation room." Max said, as he started to get up from his chair. "I have a proposition for her. Once we've discussed that, I'll call you and tell you we're ready, at which pint you can then tell everyone to meet us in that room."

"I will. Do you want someone to show you the way?" Winston asked. But all he got from Max was a low chuckle, and a "No need. I've familiarized myself with the bases layout."

"Well, then I supposse I'll hear from you soon." Winston said.

"You will." Max said, and with that, he left the room.

"Well, now that this is over, I'll be in the training area, if anyone needs me, before those 'conversations'." 76 exclaimed, before swinging his rifle over his shoulder, and heading out the door.

Now it was only Winston and Angela left in the room, but to Winston's surprise, Angela stayed. "Something on your mind?" The gorilla asked.

"76 seemed much more restrained during this talk." Angela responded. "Was that your doing?"

"Yes." Winston confirmed. "While he's still opposed to this whole thing, at the very least, I made him realize that fighting against it benefitted the traitor more than it benefitted us." He continued.

"I suppose that's all we can do for now." Angela exclaimed, with a slightly heavy voice.

"Indeed." Wisnton said, before heading towards the makeshift table, and grapping the 'Psych Profiles' folder, Max had, likely purposefully, left there.

"Would you mind getting rid of this, on your way out?" Winston nonchalantly asked, as he handed Angela the folder.

"Not at all." She responded, and Winston nodded.

"Well, I better tell Lena to meet Max. I'll see you around." Winston said.

"Likewise." Angela responded, and with that, the last two people in Winstons lab went their seperate ways.

* * *

Lena was alone in her room, when her wristwatch suddenly beeped. Curius, she answered it, and Winston's voice immediately sounded.

"Lena." Winston quickly greeted her.

"Hey, big guy." Lena greeted back. "What's up?"

"I'll just give you the short version." Winston started. "Me and 76 just discussed with Max what the next logical move to do was."

"And what did you come up with?" Lena asked.

"In all honesty, I think it would be better for Max to explain it." Winston admitted. "He asked to see you in the observation room next to the interrogation room, as soon as possible."

"Do you know what for?" Lena asked.

"Unfortunetly, no I don't." Winston answered. "But I'm certain he'll explain, when you get there." He added.

For a few seconds, the line was completely quiet. None of them said anything, until Lena finally agreed.

"I'm on my way!" She said, to which Winston simply responded "Good." before the call was ended.

Lena got out of her chair, and started heading towards the interrogation room. As she made her way through the white corridors, she wondered what Max wanted to discuss with her, one-on-one. As she continued to ponder that, she walked past the training area, where she could hear 76's pulse rifle.

She eventually made her way to the interrogation room, but as she was about to enter, she heard something from inside the room. Whistling.

She stood in front of the door, and listened to the unknown melody, for a couple of seconds, until she finally decided to open the door.

Once she opened the door, she saw that Max was sitting at the end of the table in the middle of the room, reading something. To her left was the door and one-way-mirror, that lead into the interrogation room itself, and to her right was the machines that kept recordings of interrogations, and a few cabinets for different things.

"Ah, Lena. There you are." Max exclaimed, when he noticed she'd entered. He quickly closed the book, and got up from his seat.

"Yeah, you asked for me, after all." Lena responded, with a small grin.

"Indeed I did." Max acknowledged.

"Would you mind telling me why, though?" Lena immediately asked. But, to her surprise, it only made Max sigh.

"What?" She asked.

"I see that our previous... conversation, has changed you. Or at the very least, your stance towards me." He explained.

"Care to elaborate?" Lena continued to ask.

"You want to immediately know what this is about." Max explained. "You want to make sure I don't keep any secrets from you, unlike last time, where you trusted me a bit more blindly. And that's not a bad thing, it's just a thing I noticed."

"I see..." Lena said, as she fell into a short thoughtful silence.

"Well..." She eventually said. "... whether I've changed, or not, I doubt the reason you called me here was to give me a lecture."

"You're right." Max acknowledged, before tunring towards the one-way-mirror, and placing his hands behind his back.

"To accomplish this task laid before me, I need to get to know everyone personally." Max started, as Lena listened carefully. "And I've concluded that the fastest way to do that, is to have a private conversation with everyone here. Unfortunetly, the interrogation room is the only facility in the base that meets all the requirements to house such talks. That, or the fact that it's me, depending on the individual, will likely cause a fair few of you to be... unwelcoming, of this."

Max suddenly turned his head towards Lena. "That is where you come in." He said, before turning his entire body towards her.

"If you're willing, then I'd like to have our talk be like a demonstration, to show them, just what this entails." Max said. "That means the entire rest of Overwatch will observe our conversation, whereas it'd normally only be Winston and Soldier 76. However, should you feel the conversation becomes too personal to share with the rest of them, then I can turn off the microphones in the room, meaning they would only be able to see our conversation, not hear it."

Max took in a few deep breaths, before saying, "Now I simply want to ask, are you willing to participate in that?"

A little bit overwhelmed, Lena was quiet for a couple of seconds, until she hesitantly answered "I might be. If you answer a few questions I have."

"I expected you'd have a few questions. Shoot." Max said, as he leaned against the table.

"Well, first off, why me?" Lena started. "Couldn't you do the same with Angela, to the same effect?"

"In theory, I could use anyone for this demonstration. But with Angela, I just know too much about her, to have a real conversation with her. Even though this is a demonstration, I still want it to, at the very least, be as real as possible. But with Angela, I just can't achieve that." Max explained. "And I have a bit more experience with you, meaning it might go more smoothly than if I chose, say McCree for example."

"Okay, that makes sense." Lena acknowledged. "But what about the arguments you made back in the meeting room? You know, about this being predetermined or one of us changing our answers?"

"In all honesty, they can believe whatever they want, about our conversation." Max unexpectedly argued. "To them, it's a demonstration, and whether it's predetermined, changed or none of the above, doesn't change that they still see what they should see."

"But know that if I think you're not being honest with me, then I won't hesitate to call you out." He added, with a small smile.

"As you should." Lena responded. And even though it was with a grin, Max could hear a faint bit of nervousness in her voice. But then again, this must be pretty new for her as well, so nervousness was a sensible reaction, Max thought to himself.

"Any further questions?" Max asked.

"No, I think that's everything I had on my mind." Lena responded.

"Good, then I'd like to repeat my question." Max said. "Are you up for this?" He asked.

Lena was quiet for a few seconds. Eventually, she argued "I am helping you catch the traitor, after all. You bet I'm up for it!"

"Great." Max responded, before reaching down to his wristwatch, and saying "Winston. We're ready."

* * *

 **A/N: So... school's starting again soon. And the unfortunate consequence of that is, of course, that I have have less time to continue writing. *Sigh* I mean, it is an inevitability, but it still sucks. But, I suppose there's nothing I can do about it. See ya next time, whenever that might be.**


	11. Intriguing Conversations

The door to the interrogation room opened, and Max stepped inside. He'd just told the rest of Overwatch the same things he'd told Lena, a few minutes ago, and now they were observing every move they made, and listening to every word they said. Either from the desk, where Max had left them, or from the one-way-mirror. And truth be told, Max didn't mind how they observed this, just that they got his point.

Max walked over the table, where Lena was already sitting ready, on one side. Max calmly walked over to the other side of the table, and sat down. On the desk in front of him were only 3 things: The various papers with the backgrounds of Overwatch members, a notepad with a pen and the button that deactivated the microphones in the room.

Max quickly adjusted the position of everything on his table, before grapping the pen, and looking up at Lena.

"Now then..." He said, signalizing that the conversation had begun, and Lena immediatey looked back into his eyes.

"I know this is kinda trivial, given how I already know this, but it is a necessity." Max started. "Your name is Lena Oxton, and you're 27 years old. Correct?"

"Yes." Lena answered, without flinching.

"Good." Max answered, and as he wrote down a note, he commented "Now that that's over, let's get to the more interesting stuff."

He put down the pen, and briefly looked at Lena, before requesting "Now, I'd like to describe yourself to me."

"Well..." Lena started. "I like to think I'm an extrovert, but..." "No, stop." Max suddenly cut her off. "Normally I wouldn't stop you during this, but I believe you misunderstood me." He said, before taking a deep breath.

"I don't want you to tell me what I should be writing down about you. I want you to describe yourself, using your own words, your own language, if you will." Max explained, before adding "Thankfully I knew enough about you to correct it, before it was too late."

"Okay then..." Lena responded. She got a thoughful expression on her face, and her eyes slowly started looking towards the roof.

"Take your time." Max said, since he understood that this wasn't something she was asked often.

For the next couple of seconds, the room was filled with nothing but silence. Eventually, Lena's eyes started to return down to Max, and she spoke. "Well, I alwys try to stay positive, and even in the darkest of times, I try to lighten the mood. After all, what's the point, if you're not having fun, doing what you love?"

"A good question." Max simply responded. He quickly wrote down another note, but without looking away from Lena. "Anything else?" He then asked, as he kept the pen in his hand.

"Well, I will admit that I sometimes don't take tings as seriously as I probably should." She admitted.

"And why do you think you do that?" Max unexpectedly asked, and once again, Lena's response came after a few seconds of thoughtful silence.

"I... think it's because I just don't want to be all doom and gloom. I want to help people, but I also want to be an image, an example. Not a pessimist, who constantly walks around with a sour expression." Lena slowly explained.

"I see." Max said, in a completely neutral tone.

"And, off the top of my head, I... think that's all I can say about me." Lena said, and Max simply nodded, before putting down his pen, and folding his hands in front of him.

"Now, once again, in your own words, I want you to tell me your version of your story." Max then said, before adding "Just the basics, but if you feel like adding any details, you just go on ahead." He added, and Lena nodded.

"Now, where to begin...?" Lena rhetorically asked herself. "Well, probably at the beginning." She answered herself, before taking a deep breath.

"I was born in 2056, in Oxford, England. My parents were some of the few lucky ones, to survive the Omnic Crisis, in relatively good shape, so my childhood wasn't very challenging." Lena started telling.

"And was that a good thing, or a bad thing?" Max asked.

"Sometimes one, sometimes the other." Lena admitted. "While I appreciated the warm beds, and three meals every day, I craved adventure. I didn't just want to see the world, I wanted to experince it. I wanted to experience everything it had to offer." She added, with an energetic vocie, even for her.

"Understandable." Max simply answered, continuing to keep up his neutral demeanor.

He quickly took a few notes, before saying "Please continue."

"Well, during school I wasn't exactly the center of attention, but I still made quite a few friends, and I made it out with relatively good grades." Lena continued. "After school, I'll admit, I was kinda lost for a few months. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life. After a while, I decided to trust my gut, and follow my crave for adventure. And it lead me here, to Overwatch."

"Did you consider other positions within Overwatch, before deciding on becoming a pilot?" Max continued to ask.

"Nope." Lena answered. "I saw they were seeking recruits, I took it."

"And everything seemed good there." She continued. "I made a couple of really good friends among the other recruits, I became top of the class, and I even graduated a bit ealier than everyone else! It was a dream come true." Lena had a big smile on her face, but suddenly, her expression changed to a more depressed and dark one.

"But then it became a nightmare." She followed it up, in a somber voice.

"Slipstream?" Max asked, and Lena simply nodded.

"Would you mind telling me about it?" Max carefully asked. "I know this is..." "No." Lena cut him off. "It's fine."

Following that, she was quiet for longer than usual. However, she eventually managed to gather up anough courage, and she spoke. "I just... don't really know what to say. I mean, They said I would be fine, that the matrix had been tested, but... I just... it happened so fast, and I..."

Lena eventually trailed off into a silence, as she looked with an empty, yet frightend look.

"Lena?" Max asked, and as if she'd been startled, Lena suddenly looked back at him.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. I suppose I trailed off a bit." She said, before a slight chuckle. However, Max could hear that it was slightly forced.

"Okay, Lena." Max said. "I know this is an incredibly sensitive topic for you, likely more than I anticipated, so I'll stop talking about it. However, mostly for your sake, I'll just ask one last question."

Max took a deep breath, and looked Lena straight into the eyes, with an unusually serious look. "Are you truly over the Slipstream incident, as I like to call it?" He calmly, yet sternly, asked.

Lena, seemingly taken aback by the question at first, eventually put her hand under her chin, and started ever so slightly rubbing her nose, as she looked up towards the roof again. "Yeah." She answered, before adding "Why wouldn't I be?" as she quickly looked down at Max again, before looking back up.

Max unexpectedly sighed, and looked down at his paper in front of him, seemingly in very deep thought.

Eventually, his gaze slowly started moving towards the button on the edge of his desk, finally stopping on the button itself. Max quickly looked at the one-way-mirror, before back down at the button.

"Did I say something wrong?" Lena slowly asked.

"I'm not the one who knows the answer to that question." Max cryptically responded, before suddenly pressing the button, and looking back at Lena.

"Lena, there's one thing I want you to understand." Max said, in a warm, yet serious, voice. "While the reason I'm here is mainly to find this traitor, that's not the only thing I wish to do here. I also want to help you with any and all problems I'm able to help with."

"Yeah I get that, but why are you...?" Lena started, in an unusually nervous voice, but she was silenced by Max holding up a hand.

"Lena, I hate calling people out like this, but I feel like it's necessary here." Max said, before a brief pause. "I know you weren't honest with me, when I asked you whether you were over the slipstream incident."

"I... How did you...?" Lena started, but once again, she was silenced by Max. "Know? Just your general body language, with you rubbing your nose, and avoiding eye contact, but that's not what's important here. What's important is that you're not over it. Worse, I have good reason to believe it traumatized you. All I want to know for now is, to what extent, and how I'll be able to help you."

"Max, please..." Lena unexpectedly answered, with a disheartend voice. "I know that you only want to help, but this is... not something I can just talk about. This is way more personal than that." She tried, but Max didn't give up.

"Lena, trauma is a serious problem, and there's a lot of complicated emotions involved in it. Just botteling them up can only lead to more emotional distress, further down the road." Max tried.

"Max, I don't want to talk about it. Most people don't even know about it." Lena subborningly tried, but Max was equally stubborn.

"I will not do anything drastic right now, I simply want to know how bad it is, so I..." "Will you just SHUT UP!" Lena cut him off, with an unusual amount of anger in her voice.

"I don't. Want. To. Talk. About it! How is that so freaking hard for you to understand?!" Lena continued. Once she was done, she slumbing down in her chair, and looking up at Max, with an apologetic look.

"I-I'm sorry." She said, in a low voice. "I... don't know what happened to me there." She continued.

"You let out your emotions." Max explained, in a calm voice. "And that's good. You also gave me everything I needed, so now I won't talk about it, any longer." He added, as quickly wrote down a note.

"What did you need it for?" Lena curiosly asked.

"I'll explain it all, in due time." Max assured her. "For now..." He said, before pushing the button again. "... how about we just continue on?"

Lena let out a rather heavy sigh, before finally agreeing "Okay."

"Good." Max said, before asking. "Now, after the Slipstream, and Winston made you that Chronal Accelerator, what did you feel?"

For the next twenty minutes, Max and Lena sat and discussed the various parts of Lena's life that they deemed important for her, as well as her relationship to the rest of Overwatch.

* * *

Max sighed. He knew what he had asked for, when he said he wanted to have these conversations, but that didn't mean they weren't exhausting.

He briefly looked over at the empty glass of water, Angela had brought him, after a couple of hours. However, he didn't find a refill necessary, since there was only one person left he needed to speak with: Mei-Ling Zhou.

Max had just finished reading her background information, but there was still a few minutes until she arrived.

Finding nothing else to do, he decided to look through the notes he'd taken after his conversation with Lena.

* * *

 _Torbjörn Lindholm  
Veteran from the old Overwatch, and very vocal about it. Compares a lot of things to how they were. Likely due to missing it, despite claims of a different nature. Also very proud about his mechanical creations. Has a lot of experience in the field from the old Overwatch, but seems a bit rusty. Not likely he has participated in many actions in the field. Will ask 76 later. Spends a lot of time in his own workshop, and not very talkative about what he is working on. Says it will "ruin the surprise". Past doesn't seem to hold any relevant information. He doesn't seem very interested in it either. Likely he lives in the present, and doesn't dwell on the past. However, there is still one spot in his past that he actively avoids. While not the most likely to be the traitor, his activities in his workshop could hold important information, and should not be ignored. Could discuss with Winston, whether to set up survailance.  
_

 _Reinhardt Wilhelm  
Another veteran, and even more vocal about it. However, unlike Torbjörn, doesn't compare, but rather likes to tell tales, from back then. Very vocal, and social, which is a good thing. Past, yet again, doesn't seem to hold any relevant information. Still likes to discuss it, though, and generally open to all my questions. Considers the traitor an "honorless coward, who has no place among the ranks of Overwatch". Seems like he wants to help in catching the traitor in any way he can. REALLY likes to talk about his past. And David Hasselhoff. Overall impressions are good. There aren't a lot to suggest he could be the traitor, and there aren't a lot of reasons, why he should do it, either. Will likely ask him about the others behavior in the future.  
_

 _Fareeha Amari  
Not a member of the original Overwatch, but knew many of the high ranking personal, due to her mother. Seems passionate about Overwatch, and the people in it. Can also apparently be stubborn at times, likely a trait from her mother, who was often also described as stubborn. Don't feel an immediate distrust, but not much trust either. Her early facination with military also seems to stem from her mother. Doesn't like discussing her mother, though. Likely due to her going MIA, during the last years of Overwatch. __However, if asked kindly, she does easily open up, compared to others, which is a good thing. Very social, and spends most of her time in the company of others, but doesn't often talk much, which makes her less likely as a consultant about the others. Overall, doesn't appear to be the traitor, but not the least likely either. Should keep an eye on, but not a priority._

 _Lucio Correia dos Santos  
Newest member to Overwatch. Happy-go-lucky attitude, but still takes the things that deserve it seriously. Very open about his whole life, which is a good sign. Seems serious about catching the traitor, and also seems willing to help in any way he can. No experience in the field yet, only training simulations. Very opposed to strict rulership, and oppressiveness. Highly likely stems from a childhood under strict control by the Vishkar Corporation. Also very vocal about anything he sees as wrong. Will likely make him a strong ally in the search for the traitor. Initial impressions good, not likely to be the traitor, also becuase it is arguable that the first signs appeared before he arrived. Should still keep an eye on, though. His relationship with a few other people seems rocky.  
_

 _Genji Shimada  
_ _Was a part of the original Overwatch, but only for a couple of months, before deciding to leave. His brother, Hanzo's, near-murder of him hasn't shaken him as much as initially anticipated. Perhaps growing up among assassins hardend him, before other kids. Has forgiven his brother relatively quickly. Very spiritual, and considers himself at peace with becoming a cyborg. And he does seem like it. Though some distrust is apparent, he seems willing to put that aside, so the traitor can be found quicker. Knows his priorities. A good trait, escpecially in a job such as Overwatch. Also very good with people, and very social. Again, very good traits, and ones that could prove an advantage. Can sometimes let his emotions overrule his logic, which is a less useful trait. Was a brief part of Blackwatch, but mostly trained there. He doesn't seem like a traitor, especially with his spirituality, which seems very genuine, due to the confirmed existence of Zenyatta and the Shambali._

 _Jesse McCree  
Tendency to joke, or generally take things unseriously. Makes serious conversations difficult to mantain. Seems to mean well, but still feel a slight distrust. Facination with cowboys seems to stem from a childhood in an eviroment typical for cowboys. Reserved about parts of childhood, but not to same extent as others. Seems serious about atoning for his acts in Deadlock and Blackwatch, but don't appear to see them as traumatic, but rather unfortunate. Tendency to joke, could be a mean to cover lies, but coud also be a survival mechanism from his time in the harsh enviroments of __Deadlock and Blackwatch. Not an immediate contender for the traitor, but still high on the list._

* * *

Max looked up, at the sound of the door opening, and saw Mei finally enter.

"Ah, Mei. There you are." Max exclaimed, as he got up, to shake her hand.

"Max." She simply greeted, before shaking his hand. They both quickly sat down, and Max began immediately.

"So, just so get the mandatory stuff out of the way, your full name is Mei-Ling Zhou, and you're 32 years old. Correct?" Max began, just as he'd begun all the other talks.

"That's right." She confirmed, with a nod.

"Okay, now then. I'd like you to describe yourself." Max continued, in his usual trail.

"Well, I really care about the enviroment, and I want to do everything in my power to help it." She began.

"And you believe that Overwatch is the best place to do so?" Max asked.

"For me at least, yes." She answered. "I know most of the people here, and Overwatch is a well known and, most of the time, respected name. So I believe having that behind me, helps."

"Okay." Max simply responded. As he scribbled down a note, he asked "Please continue."

"I... will admit that I'm not the best at people." She admitted, in an ever so slightly embarassed voice. "I mean, I often try to strike up a conversation, but it doesn't always end well. And when that happends, I just kinda become embarassed, and leave quietly. And I also try to be careful about what I say."

"Really?" Max unexpectedly asked.

"Er... yeah. Why?" Mei asked, unsure where that question came from.

"It's just that, most of the other people I've spoken with, have described that you frequently use puns. And bad ones, at that, even though you're quite aware that the others aren't fond of them, to say the least." Max calmly explained to her.

"Oh that." Mei responded, as if she'd completely forgotten about it. "Well, to be honest, I don't really know why I do it..." She said, as she seemed to become slightly more embarassed.

Max simply looked at her, with a thoughful expression, for a few seconds. Eventually, he wrote down a note, while saying "Thank you. I think that's all I need about your personality."

"Now I'd like you to go over your personal history. Anything you think is important, you just tell me." He said, as he quickly looked back at her.

"Well, there isn't really a lot of interesting things, before Overwatch." She hesitantly said.

"Just go over whatever you feel is important, and skip over anything you think isn't." Max reassured her. Mei took a deep breath, before she started talking.

"Okay, then. To start with, I was born and raised in Yan'an, in Shaanxi, China. I spendt practically my whole childhood there. When I grew up, I moved to Xi'an, where I started working as a climatologist." She told.

"And I take it, that's where Overwatch found you?" Max asked, and Mei nodded.

"They needed people for their Eco-Points Program, and seeing as I'd invented several forms of climate-manipulation, I was an obvious choice." She explained. She was silent for a few seconds, before she continued, something Max clearly noticed.

"So, I was assigned to Eco-Point: Antarctica. Though the facility was rather small, it had good equipment, and the people who worked there were really nice." She continued. "I can't really remember how long I spendt there, but it was few years, at least."

Once she'd told that, she was silent, until Max reassured her. "Take your time. I've got enough time."

She took a deep breath, before continuing. "But then the snowstorm hit. I was out on a mission, a few kilometers away, but I managed to return, before the base was isolated from the rest of the world. We knew our rations wouldn't last long, so we decided to enter cryosleep."

"And you remained there, until mine months ago." Max finished for her.

"Yes." She confirmed. "As the only one." She added, in a somber voice.

"Yeah." Max confirmed. "Is it okay, if I ask a few questions about that?" He carefully asked.

Mei let out a sigh, before answering "Yeah."

"Okay." Max said. "After being discovered, how did you feel, when you saw the other malfunctioned pods?" He carefully asked.

"I... don't know." Mei answered. "At first, I was in disbelief. This just... couldn't be happening. But after a while, it dawned on me: They were really gone. But I knew they would have wanted me to carry on, so that's what I did."

"And have you returned to that Eco-Point, after being discovered?" Max asked.

"No, I... actually haven't." Mei said, sounding surprised over her own response.

"How often do you think about that event? How often is that the only thing you're thinking about?" Max then asked.

"A few times a week, at least." Mei admitted, as she began to sound exhausted.

"Now..." Max said. "I only have one more question, and it doesn't have to do with Eco-Point: Antarctica. After that, we'll be done." He said, and Mei nodded.

"Are you sometimes... plagued, by negative emotions? Anger? Frustration? Guilt?" Max put a little more pressure on the last word, than the others.

For the first few seconds, Mei was quiet, and simply looked down on her desk. Eventually, she looked up, and simply said "Yes."

"Would you mind telling me which negtive emotions are the most common?" Max continued.

"I don't always know, to be honest." Mei answered. "I know I often feel such emotions, but which of them it is, I don't know." She said, before hanging her head.

"Hey." Max said, in an encouraging voice, and Mei looked up at him. "That's not something to be ashamed off. In fact, it's quite impressive that you're so open about them." He reassured.

Mei simply let out a sigh, before asking "Well, are we done here?"

"For now." Max said, and Mei nodded, before getting up, and heading towards the door.

* * *

 **A/N: Aside from adjusting to returning to school, a few, but quite significant, rewrites were the main reason this chapter took a bit longer than expected. But it's finally here. And also, the rest of the conversations where quickly summarized, via Max's notes, because both writing and reading those conversations, in their full length, would've not only been repetitive, but boring. And I always try to make my stories as entertaining as possible. (Whether ot not I succeed is up to you, though) Well, let's hope the next chapter won't take as long. Until then.**


	12. Friends or Foes

"So?" 76 asked.

Him, Winston and Max were once again gathered in Winston's lab to discuss the conversations Max had just finished a couple of minutes ago.

"You want to know what I've gathered so far?" Max asked, and 76 immediately nodded.

"Or more specifically, who do you mainly think is the traitor?" Winston corrected, from his seat next to 76.

"While I now have some sense of direction, it's still far to early to say anything with complete certainty." Max answered with a slightly apologetic, and yet steadfast, voice.

"Well, who is so far most likely the traitor?" 76 kept pushing.

"If you must know..." Max started. "You." He simply answered, as he looked 76 back in the eyes.

"What?!" 76 immediately asked, in an aggresive voice. "Why the hell would I be the traitor?!" He continued.

"For the simple fact that you're an anomaly. I don't know anything about you." Max answered, in a voice as cold as 76's was fiery. "And from what I've gathered from my conversations, I'm not alone in not knowing much about you or what you do, aside from training."

"Well the maybe you should've talked to me, like you did everything else!" 76 continued to defend himself, while Winston obviously just found it annoying.

"From what you've shown me so far, I have good reason to believe that would've been an absolute waste of time." Max answered back. "You would've either tried to derail me, or just outright denied me access when I would've asked for anything personal, wouldn't you?"

76 was completely quiet for a second, before he slumbed back in his chair and crossed his arms. Much to his dismay, he couldn't argue with that.

"Now that you've finally calmed down..." Winston said, before sitting upright in chair. "What are you going to do next?" He then asked Max.

"Until something changes, I'll just mostly observe, or engage in conversation with the different members of Overwatch." Max answered nonchalantly. "However, before I go, I'd like to ask: Can this be used via voice activation?" He asked, as he pointed at the wristwatch around his right wrist.

"Sure it can. Why?" Winston answered in a friendly tone.

"If I find it necessary to speak with someone in my room, I think it would be quickler if I could just contact them via this." Max explained.

"Okay." Winston simply answered.

"Now, if everything is said and done, I think I'll retreat to my room. Until then." Max said, before getting up and leaving the room.

76 was about to do the same, but as he passed Winston, the gorilla suddenly grapped his shoulder.

"Remember when we talked about you restraining yourself?" Winston said, without looking at 76.

The old soldier simply grunted in annoyance, before shaking off Winstons hand and starting to walk towards the exit.

"Remember who you're helping when you do that!" Winston shouted after him, but 76 simply walked out the door, completely ignoring him.

Winston let out a loud sigh, before getting up himself. He then turned around and walked towards one of his workplaces.

* * *

As Max walked through the halls of the base, he didn't meet anyone else, but that was fine with him. Right there, he was more focused on remembering the map of the base.

He quickly turned a corner, and walked down the hall with all the personal rooms. He continued to walk down the hallway, consciously walking past his own room along the way, until he eventually reached his destination.

He knocked on the door in front of him and waited for a response from the other side.

"Who's there?" Lena's voice sounded from inside the room.

"Me." Max simply answered her.

"Oh. Well, come on in." Lena responded, and Max opened the door. Once he stepped inside, he saw Lena lying on the bed and an open book on her desk.

"Did I disturb?" Max politely asked, but Lena simply shrugged.

"Not really." She admitted. "I was mostly trying to relax. Get some sleep, if I was lucky." She continued, before sitting upright on her bed.

Max nodded in repsonse, as he pulled out her chair and sat down on it.

"So, what did you come here for?" Lena asked, and Max now heard her voice was a bit tired.

"After our talk, I thought about how you reacted to my questions, and I discovered something I need to tell you before anyone else." Max explained to her.

"If this is about the Slipstream, then I still don't..." Lena started, but Max silenced her by raising his hand.

"This is something you NEED to know." He emphasized.

Lena was silent for a couple of seconds, which Max utilized to quickly get a better look at her room. There were a lot of books scattered around the place, as well as music and several different posters, with most of them being Overwatch propaganda.

Eventually, Lena sighed, and Max immediately looked back at her. She slowly raised her head, before saying "Shoot."

"Lena, your nightmares, your sudden outburst of anger when I pushed you a little, and the amount of time you spend in the solitary enviroment of your room, leads to one specific conclusion: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD if you prefer." Max said, without wavering.

At first, Lena was quiet. "You're saying I have PTSD?" She then asked, mostly to make sure.

"Indeed." Max answered, but to his surprise, all Lena did was hang her head in defeat.

"You already knew?" Max asked.

"Not precisely." Lena answered in a low voice. "I mean, I knew it screwed me up, the Slipstream, but I just didn't know the full extent of it." She continued in her explanation. "PTSD..." She then lowly mumbled to herself.

Max was simply quiet and gave Lena as much time as she needed to process the somewhat new information.

Eventually, she raised her head again. But she didn't say anything, so Max asked "Have anyone else noticed?"

"Not as far as I know." She simply responded.

"So you haven't told them?" Max asked, and Lena nodded in response.

"You thought it was too personal to share, correct?" Max then asked, and once again Lena's answer came in the form of a nod.

Following that, Max was quiet. Until Lena asked "I'm guessing you want to help me with it?"

"If you even can." She added in a low voice. but it was high enough for Max to hear.

"I can." He answered. "But there'a one important thing you should know." He added, and Lena looked up at him.

"I can't force you to do anything." He began. "Forcing you through therapy would only hurt you, and not heal you one bit. Besides, it's not me to force people. I only advise. And even though it doesn't have to be me, I strongly advise for you to seek help with this, as soon as possible. The longer you let it linger, the more damage it will do." He explained to her.

"So... you only advise?" Lena asked.

"Yes." Max simply answered.

"So, if I wanted to, I could ignore your... advice, and just do nothing?" She continued.

"Unfortunetly, yes." Max answered, in a disheartend yet honest voice.

"Huh." Was all Lena said, before a silence was all that was present in the room.

"I need... time to think. Anything else?" Lena asked, and Max shook his head.

"That's all for now." He answered, before getting up from his chair.

Max walked towards the door and as he was about to open it, he turned around and said "Remember: You should seek help as soon as possible."

"I know." Lena simply responded, and as Max was about open the door, she unexpectedly said "And Max?"

"Yes?" Max responded, as he turned around again.

"I just wanted to say... thanks for caring." She said in a slightly unsure voice.

"You're welcome." Max simply responded before exiting her room, leaving her alone to ponder about her future.

* * *

Mei was returning to her room, when her wristwatch unexpectedly beeped. Curious, she answered and was greeted by Max's voice.

"Mei, can you come to my room? It should only take a few minutes." He explained to her.

"Sure, I'll be right there." She answered.

"Sounds good." Max said, before closing the conversation. As he leaned slightly back in his chair in his room, he noticed something about Mei's voice: It'd been much more energetic and less tired than when they ended their more formal conversation.

Not really sure what to make of it at this point in time though, Max just simply decided to lean back in the chair, and wait for her to arrive.

After only a minute's time, Mei arrived, and Max immediately got up from his chair.

"Thanks for getting here on such short notice." He thanked, before quickly finding a few papers on his desk.

"You're welcome." Mei initially responded, but she quickly followed it up with "But why did you call me here though?"

However, instead of answering her question, Max simply gestured towards towards the other chair in his room and said "Please take a seat."

Though a bit confused, Mei trusted him enough, and as she made her way towards the chair, Max added "I'll explain shortly."

As she sat down, so did Max before he started to explain.

"Truth be told, our conversation in the interrogation room didn't really end." Max started, and Mei was immediately more confused. Thankfully, he explained further. "I wanted to continue to discuss a few things with you, but the interrogation room wasn't a very safe place to discuss such things. So I hope you're more comfortable here."

"I am, thank you." Mei responded, as some of her confusion was cleared up.

"So, what I wanted to touch on first was some of your responses to my questions." Max then continued. "When I asked what you felt, after you were rescued, the very first thing you mentioned was disbelief. And then, when I asked how often you think about it, you answered a few times a week. Do you still stand by that?" He asked, and Mei simply nodded.

"Okay." Max said, before falling into a thoughtful silence for a few seconds.

Eventually, he put away the papers and leaned forward in his chair, as he looked right back into Mei's eyes.

"Let me ask you something." He said. "Is disbelief still the main thing you feel, when you think back?"

"I... yes. Sometimes." Mei answered, and Max nodded, before leaning back in his chair.

"Is there something wrong? With me?" Mei asked, a little bit unnerved.

"I wouldn't say wrong, but there's most likely something." Max responded, before elaborating.

"First off, reliving something isn't by itself anything special, but reliving one specific event a few times a week is. Especially if it's an unpleasant event. That, along with disbelief still being the dominant feeling related to that event, leaves a few conclutions. And after thinking it through, I think I narrowed it down." Max said.

"Mei..." Max then said, in an incredibly serious voice. "I believe that awakening as the sole survivor on Eco-Point: Antarctica have left you in a state of intense grief."

"Grief?" Was all Mei responded with, after Max's diagnosis.

"Yes." Max confirmed. "That would also explain your use of puns. They're your instinctual reaction to this grief, which is why you didn't really know why you used them either. They are instictual." Max continued.

At first, Mei was quiet, and Max simply let her be. Eventually she asked "What should I do?"

"That question is one only you can answer." Max answered. "You can choose to seek help, wherever you feel comfortable, or you may choose to ignore it, and let it be. However, I would recommend that you seek help." He continued.

This time, the thoughtful silence fell over Mei for a few seconds.

"Will..." She eventually started, but she seemed to be at a loss for words.

"I'm listening. Go on ahead." Max encouraged her.

She took a deep breath, before looking up, and asking "Will you help me through it?"

She looked at him in anticipation, but at first, all he did was smile. Then he answered "Of course."

Mei let out a sigh of relief, before asking "So... how do you do this?"

"For now we don't actually do anything." Max answered, to her surprise.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because before I start questioning you, you need some time to process this whole thing. And whenever you feel ready, then I'll be awailable to talk. But if you don't do anything in a while, then I may be forced to initiate the conversation myself." Max explained to her in a calm voice.

"Okay." Mei simply responded with a small nod.

"Well, I suppose I'll see you around." She then said, as she started to get up from the chair.

"You most certainly will." Max said, and with that, they parted ways for the second time that day.

* * *

"... and that's how I managed to steal supplies from an entire town, without them knowing a thing." McCree ended his tale.

"Now tell me something, McCree..." Angela said from the seat next to the cowboy. "How much of that was actually true?"

"100 percent, darlin'." McCree answered, with a smug grin that made Angela roll her eyes. "100 percent." He repeated.

Angela didn't look convinced in the slightest, so McCree turned towards Lucio, who was on the other side of the bar. "Hey, Santos, you believe me, right?" He said, still maintaining his grin.

"I believe that story as much as I believe in Santa Claus." Lucio joked, as he found a cuple of drinks behind the bar.

"See, the kid believes me." McCree joked back, which resulted in Lucio shaking his head. But it also resulted in a small giggle from Angela, so it wasn't for nothing.

"Okay, okay." McCree quickly apologized. But it wasn't long before he turned towards Genji, who was sitting further down the bar, browsing the internet.

"Genji, my buddy. You believe me, dontcha?" McCree asked, as he grapped the drink Lucio had put in front of him.

"Jesse, I'll be honest with you." Genji answered, as he briefly looked up from his datapad. "You really need to improve your lying."

"Okay, I concede." McCree said, as he raised both his hands in the air.

As McCree engaged in a new conversation with Lucio, Angela briefly turned towards Genji. "What are you looking at?" She asked.

"I'm looking at the news, from around Hanamura." Genji answered her, as he put down the datapad, and looked at Angela.

"Hoping to find something specific?" She asked.

"Yes." Genji admitted. "I... was looking for any signs of my brother. But so far, he has stayed completely off the radar." Genji added.

"Don't worry, you'll find him eventually." Angela ecouraged.

Genji let out a low sigh, before admitting "Yeah, I probably will. Thanks doctor."

"Genji, how many times do I need to say it? Just call me Angela." She insisted.

"I'll work on that... doctor." Genji responded, and Angela rolled her eyes again, before McCree suddenly called her name.

"Hey, doc, is the kid telling the truth here?" McCree interrupted Angela and Genji's conversation.

"That depends on what he said." Angela answered.

"That you've decided to take him under your wing, and teach 'im a thing or two about being a medic?" McCree explained, with his drink in his hand.

"Yes, that's true." Angela confirmed. "It would be nice to have someone else who can go out with you in the field, so I don't have to every time." She elaborated.

"Sounds like a good idea to me." McCree responded, before taking a sip of his drink. However, as soon as the liquid entered his mouth, his expression turned to shocked, and he immediately spat it all out.

"The hell is this?" The cowboy exclaimed, as he looked down at the, now half empty, glass.

"Apparently something I'm never serving you again." Lucio answered, with a slightly cold tone. And when McCree looked up, he saw why. Some of the drink he'd spat out, had landed right on Lucio's face.

"Oh, my bad. But you could've moved out of the way." McCree excused himself, as he reached for the napkins on the bar.

"Believe it or not, but I haven't got lightning quick reflexes like Genji over there." Lucio argued back.

As the two of them began to clean up the mess McCree made, Angela turned towards Genji again.

"So, found anything interesting?" She asked.

"No. Crime is mostly gangs running around here and there. And apart from that, there isn't really... wait." Genji suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"What is it?" Angela asked, but to her surprise, Genji didn't answer her. Instead he turned off the datapad and jumped off the chair. He quickly made it to the TV, which he immediately turned on.

The screen flickered for a second, before a news report appeared on the screen with a small picture of what looked like a giant commercial transport station.

"... reports of a hostage situation currently happening in Kyoto Station, in Kyoto, Japan." The news reporter said, and everyone immediately turned their attention towards the TV, where the reporter continued.

"The entire station was taken hostage a few minutes ago by what appears to be a squad of soldiers from the notorious terrorist group Talon. No one knows how they got in there, but what is known is that the entire station has been taken hostage."

The reporter took a deep breath, before continuing. "The local police are on the scene, but entry has proven difficult due to the amount of hostages, which is currently unknown, and Talon's willingness to execute them."

Angela briefly looked at Genji, who was clearly upset over this. He'd told before that Hanamura was close to Kyoto, so this was personal for him. "They wont get away with this." He whispered.

"And we've just recieved news that one of our reporters is present at the scene." The person on TV just said, before the screen changed to show another woman standing in front of a barricade of policecars.

"Clara Edwards, you're present at the scene. Can you tell us what exactly is going on?" The first woman asked.

"At the current moment, information is relatively scarce, due to how suddenly this all happened." The other woman, named Clara, said. "Another thing that's a total mystery is Talon's motivation for doing this. A total takeover of Kyoto Station just doesn't seem to serve... wait, what's going on?"

The woman on the scene, as well as the camera, was suddenly engulfed in a black smoke, before the camera turned off.

It quickly cut back to the studio, where the other woman was still sitting. "We've just lost contact with our local... wait, what? It's on again? Okay then. Apparently the signal is back, but I'm told to warn you, the following may be disturbing to younger viewers."

The screen cut again, but this time it clearly wasn't the reporter filming.

At first, all the screen showed was the face of the reporter named Clara, which looked like she was gasping for air. Then, as it started to zoom out, it was relevealed what was happening to her. Around her throat was a hand covered in black kevlar with a talon on each of the fingers.

It continued to zoom out, revealing her feet wasn't even touching the ground.

Then the screen turned at bit to the right, showing Reaper, holding Clara with one hand and a shotgun in the other.

The mercenary slowly turned towards the camera, until he looked straight into it.

"Unless you want this to be the fate of everyone in here..." He slowly said, as he raised the shotgun towards Clara. A few seconds passed, until he pulled the trigger, shooting seven pellets into Clara's face, completely blowing it off.

As small bits of flesh started to fall down, Reaper let go of the corpse that was beginning to bleed on him.

"You will bring us Overwatch." He finished, as the screen flickered, before showing the words 'Signal Lost'.

* * *

 **A/N: The mission to Kyoto will strech out over the two next chapters, but when I was thinking about them, I came across a dilemma: Should I release them simultaneously, or just whenever they are finished. I thought about for some time, but was unable to settle on either one. So, I decided to do something I've never tried before: Make a poll. So now you get to decide which one. Just note that, if I release them simultaneously there might be a longer wait than usual. But if I release them whenver they're ready, then the first one would likely end on a pretty major cliffhanger. Just something to consider, if you want to vote. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say for now. Until next time.**


	13. The Ghost -

**A/N: The schedule for this and the next chapter was originally that they would be uploaded roughly a day apart. However, the next chapter didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted it too. Basically, it was shit. I eventually decided to rewrite almost the entire chapter, but that takes time. So I also decided to upload this now to shorten the wait, instead of having you wait almost 2 and a half weeks. Thanks for understanding, and I'll see you when the next chapter is done!**

* * *

"We're walking into a trap." Fareeha said out loud in the dropship.

"And we were suppossed to do what? Leave the innocent people in that station to be slaughtered like cattle?!" Genji immediately responded. He'd been tense ever since the news report, and it seemed nothing could calm him down, or ease his worries.

"I wasn't suggesting that at all!" Fareeha defended herself.

"I'm sorry, I just..." Genji started, but he quickly trailed off into silence.

At first everyone in the dropship was silent. No one really knew what to say. Eventually, Angela stood up and walked over to the distressed Genji.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked in a voice full of concern, as she sat down next to him.

"I just..." Genji started, but it seemed like he was at a loss for words. After a few seconds he sighed, and started talking.

"If they can just take an entire station hostage in a matter of minutes, who's to say they can't do it anywhere they see fit. They could appear anywhere, kill whoever they want, and then dissapear before we even had a chance to react." He finally let out his worries, and Angela listened carefully.

"Perhaps you're right, but there's thing you're forgetting." 76 suddenly intervened.

"Up until this point, the public, and most of the gourverments of the world, have only seen a few bases of Talon." 76 started explaining. "But now, with this exessive display of ruthlesness and brutality, then everyone will be on high alert. And that can only hinder Talon."

At first, Genji was quiet. "I... guess you're right." He eventually said, and 76 nodded, before turning around.

But as he did, Angela suddenly got up and walked over to him.

"That was... surprisingly supportive of you." She said, even though she didn't know whether he'd take it as a compliment or not.

"Kid's not gunna do any good on the battlefield if he's constantly worrying about other things." 76 nonchalantly explained, as he was readying his rifle with his back turned towards Angela.

"Still, I don't see this side of you as often as I'd like. And I think I'm not alone." Angela argued.

In response, 76 stopped readying his rifle, and turned towards Angela.

"I once showed this side to two people, more than I do these guys." 76 said, as he briefly looked out over the group in the dropship, before returning to Angela. "One of them paid for it, the other betrayed me by exploiting it." He then said in a cold voice, before walking off without giving Angela any chance to respond.

She let out a sigh, before returning to her seat.

The following minutes of flight was quiet, until McCree decided to break the ice. "Is anyone else wondering just what they're getting out of this?" He asked.

"You mean beside luring us into a trap?" Fareeha asked in response.

"Yeah, beside that." McCree confirmed, before elaborating. "I mean, this just doesn't seem to be the way they usually do things. Stealth is more their thing, not open displays of violence."

"I agree, it is odd." Reinhardt backed McCree up.

"Do you think Reaper defected?" Fareeha asked, and no one initially answered.

"It's unlikely." 76 suddenly answered from the furthest corner of the ship. "Talon's got him on a leash, and they know how valuable he is. Apart from that, defecters from Talon don't have a habit of staying alive too long." He continued.

No one really had anything to say, so silence once again fell over the ship, until Winston appeared from the cockpit.

"Even though Talon know we're coming, that doesn't mean they know where we're coming from." He started, and everyone turned towards him.

"We're dropping off a few meters behind the station, where we'll enter. Genji, you're the one most familiar with the stations layout, so I want you to spearhead, along with 76. Once we reach Reaper, we'll split up into three groups. The first two groups will engage Reaper and whatever forces is accompanying him, while the third group will evacuate the civillians. Once enough civillians are evacuated, the groups engaging Reaper will split up. One will secure the upper levels, while the other will secure the lower, and the third will either scare him off, or keep him at bay until everyone else arrives."

Winston was briefly quiet, before he turned towards 76. "Think it'll work?" He asked.

"I think it's our best shot." 76 answered in honesty.

"Okay." Winston said, before taking a deep breath. "Fareeha, you and I will secure the upper levels, while 76 and McCree will secure the lower levels. That means Genji, Angela and Reinhardt will evacuate the civillians. Are you ready?"

"I most certainly am." Genji responded, as he got up from his seat, and put his hand on the hilt of is wakizashi.

* * *

The team quickly landed behind the entrance to the station, and jumped out onto the train tracks below.

Once making sure everyone were intact, they proceeded into the station itself, incomplete silence.

Once they entered, they didn't immediately see any signs of life. No hostages or Talon anywhere. As they continued through the empty corridors, they saw the attack must've happened very suddenly, since things like shoulder bags and briefcases were scattered around the floor.

At one point, the team came across a shop with bullet hols in the bag. Upon seeing that, 76 immediately signaled for everyone to stop, before he went over to check it out.

As he peeked over the counter, his tense muscles relaxed a bit, and he lowered his gun. He quickly turned towards the rest of the team, and shook his head, before continuing.

While the rest of the team pressed on, Reinhardt quickly went over and looked behind the counter. A bullet-filled corpse was lying in a pool of blood behind it.

The german knight let out a sigh, before quickly catching up with everyone else.

"Where is everyone?" McCree whispered next to Genji, hoping the cyborg ninja would answer.

"Talon's probably taken everyone to the main hall, so it's easier to keep an eye on everyone." The answer sounded, but instead of Genji, it came from 76.

"But if, at least almost everyone, was taken to the main hall, why would Talon bother securing the upper and lower floors?" Fareeha then asked, as they passed by a stopped train.

"The station's lower levels connect to several exits behind the ploice blockade." Genji explained, as 76 quickly peeked inside the empty train. "If they hadn't secured them, the police could've snuck through that way."

"But what about the upper levels?" McCree asked, and 76 turned towards him, as they pressed on.

"If they control the roof, they control the airspace." 76 explained. "That way, the military can't send air-support. And if they're smart, then Talon have made sure of that by installing some sort of AA turret."

"And if they have, we need to destroy it." Winston concluded from the backlines.

McCree nodded, and with no further questions, the team continued to make their way towards the main hall in complete silence.

After only a couple of seconds, the team reached the entrance to the main hall, and 76 immediately signalised for everyone to take cover behind the wall.

With the rest of the team behind him, 76 peeked out from cover, and evaluated the situation.

A couple of meters in front of them was two Talon operatives, who was overlooking five lines of hostages. The hostages looked like they mainly consisted of men and women on their way to work, as well as a few families.

In front of the hostages stood Reaper and another operative. But to 76's dismay, he couldn't see what they were doing, since they were standing with their back towards the team.

In front of Reaper was Talon's barricade, consisting mainly of whatever they could find. Even a car. Somehow.

Apart from those operatives, 76 couldn't see any more.

He quickly turned around, but as he was about to tell the rest of the team his oberservations, Reaper's voice suddenly sounded over the entire station.

"Overwatch." The mercenary said. "Your pathetic attempt at arriving unnoticed has failed. We know you're here, and we are ready to execute every last one of these hostages, unless you show yourself. Starting..." A flash, and loud bang came from the hall. "... now."

76 briefly looked down, before mumbling "To hell with him." before suddenly diving out of cover and shooting his helix rockets at the two closest operatives, knocking them a few meter away and incapacitating them.

"You all know what to do, GO!" 76 yelled, and everyone nodded, before also diving out of cover.

Angela, Genji and Reinhardt went towards the hostages, and everyone else dove towards Reaper, who unfortunatly didn't seem surprised at all. The first one to get on top of the mercenary was Fareeha, who immediately started raining rockets over him.

In response, Reaper pulled out his shotguns, and yelled "Like mother, like daughter!" But before he could manage to fire, Winston suddenly jumped on him, and started electrecuting him.

"Not this time, monkey!" Reaper hissed, before turning into pure smoke. The stream of black smoke moved around Winston like a snake, before suddenly stopping out of his field of view.

"Behind you!" 76 yelled at Winston, as he himself came running towards them, with McCree right behind him.

Reacting quick, Winston activated his jump pack, and just managed to get out of the way, before Reapers shot connected.

With the monkey out of his reach, Reaper turned around, only to see both 76 and McCree taking aim. He swiftly turned into smoke and dispersed, before the duo could manage to hit him.

"Dammit. Start searching!" 76 ordered, before briefly turning his attention towards the hostages.

"How are they coming along?!" He yelled, without letting down his guard one bit.

"Mostly traumatized, no major physical harm." Angela responded. "We'll be moving them soon."

76 was about to answer, but the sound of gunfire cut him off. "Reinhardt! Get you shield up, and be ready to block any stray bullets!" 76 ordered, before dashing towards the origin of the sound.

The old soldier quickly reached the upper level, where McCree was engaged in an intense dual with Reaper, in front of a shop, where another corpse was hanging out over the counter.

The cowboy took a few shots, but Reaper simply dodged them by moving to the side, before he himself started shooting at the cowboy, who flipped over a table and took cover behind it.

"GET CLEAR!" 76 yelled at McCree from the sidelines, as he gave him covering fire. McCree nodded, and quickly rolled towards the shop.

Once he was far enough, 76 briefly stopped shooting and ordered "McCree's clear, give Reaper hell." to Fareeha, who promptly responded with "It'll be my pleasure."

Soon it started raining rockets on Reaper, who quickly turned into smoke which moved behind the shop. "SHOOT HER DOWN!" 76 could hear Reaper yell, and almost immediately, a squad on the opposite balcony started shooting at Farreha.

"Shit, gotta take care of these!" Fareeha reported over comms.

"Do it, we've got this covered." 76 ordered back. McCree quickly went out of cover, and joined 76, as the two of them approached the corner where Reaper had dissapeared.

Once they reached the corner, they both took cover, and 76 silently counted down with his fingers. 3... 2... 1. They both stepped out of cover and aimed their guns down the hallway, but much to thair dismay, it was empty.

"Where the..." McCree started, but he was abrubtly cut off, when Reaper appeared behind him, and threw him hard into the wall.

76 immediately turned around, and aimed at Reaper, but the mercenary was too quick. He grapped 76's rifle and threw it away, with one hand, while he grapped 76 by the throat, and pushed him up against the wall, with the other.

With his, now free, hand, Reaper briefly exposed the talons on his hand, before driving them deep into 76's left shoulder. The soldier let out a pained grunt, as Reaper leaned in close, and hissed "Your suffering is only beginning."

Reaper then pulled out his talons, and a red mark on 76's shoulder started to spread rapidly. Luckily, before Reaper could managed to hurt 76 further, a bullet flew right past his head.

Surprised, the mercenray turned around, only to see McCree aiming at him.

"Step away from him, you bastard!" McCree threatend, as he fired off another warning shot, this one much closer.

"Or what? You'll shoot me?" Reaper responded, in his ghastly voice, as he let go of 76 who fell down.

"Didn't your old mentor teach you to not be so brash?" He then spat back.

"How do you...?" McCree asked, briefly stunned. Reaper exploited McCree's brief distraction and dove towards him, knocking him over.

The mercenary quickly turned into smoke, before materializing again in a standing position. He then grapped McCree by the shoulders, and held him up against the shop's wall, his feet not touching the ground.

"You're done." Reaper hissed more agressively than before.

"I might be." McCree answered, before suddenly getting a smug grin, and adding "If it wasn't for your oversight."

"What?" Reaper asked, but as he looked down, he saw McCree's Peacekeeper aimed right at his chest.

Not hesitating in the sightest, McCree immediately emptied all his remaining four bullets into Reaper's chest.

The mercenary immediately let go of McCree, as he took a few steps back, as he began to cough vioelntly. "Curse you. Curse you to hell!" Reaper almost yelled, as he took a few steps forward before falling down in front of the shop's counter.

Once McCree was done watching Reaper, he went over to 76, to check up on him. "You holding up?" He asked, as he knelt down in front of 76.

"Yeah." 76 simply answered him in a noticably strained voice. McCree nodded, and extended a hand towards 76. But as he was about to take it, the old soldier stopped, and looked at something behind McCree.

Confused, McCree turned around, only to see that Reaper had managed to get up, and he was resting on the counter of the shop.

"We. Aren't. Finished... Jesse." Reaper taunted, before unexpectedly grapping the wrist of the corpse on the counter. Suddenly, to the duo's horror, something started to happen.

The state of the corpse started to decay. Fast. It's skin started to become pale, almost grey, and dry. The hair started to become grey and fragile, as the muscles in the arms started to dwindle. And while the corpse got worse, Reaper got better. He managed to stand upright, and he stopped coughing. It looked like he became more energetic by the second, and worst of all, the bulletholes in his chest started to close themselves, eventually leaving brown skin in perfect shape, where there'd been wounds only seconds ago.

As Reaper let go, he briefly looked at his hand, before up at the duo.

"Not as much life-force as someone who's living, of course." He said. "But still enough."

Suddenly, Reaper's shotgund materialized in his hands, and he slowly started walking towards the slightly tired duo.

"Team 3, how's the evacuation coming?" 76 whispered into the comms.

"We're almost done, just a few seconds to go." Genji responded, sounding less strained than before.

"Winston, what happened?" 76 then asked.

"My jump pack was damaged, so I helped team 3, while it repaired itself, but it's operational now." Winston answered.

"Switch places, now! Winston, you're on team 3 now, so Fareeha, you'll have to manage on your own." 76 then ordered.

"Got it. I'm also done with these guys now." Fareeha responded, before blasting off towards the highest levels.

"Understood." Everyone else said, and 76 nodded, before closing the comms.

"Flashbang." He then said, directed at McCree, and the cowboy nodded.

Reaper was now only a few meters away, and as he closed the distance, he aimed his shotguns at the duo. "See you both in hell." He said.

"At some point." 76 acknowledged. "Bit not now. MCCREE, NOW!"

The cowboy immediately threw his flashbang at the unprepared mercenary, who was completely blinded. "Gargh!" He said, as 76 and McCree ran right past him, towards the edge. They both jumped off at the same time, and started heading towards the lower levels.

After recovering from the flashbang, Reaper turned around, only to see Winston coming at him from above, and Genji leading Angela and Reinhardt towards him, from below.

"Bring it." Reaper whispered to himself, as he readied his shotguns.

* * *

Genji didn't focus on the fact that he was outrunning Reinhardt and Angela. All he cared about in that moment was Reaper. As soon as the leatherclad mecenary entered his field of view, he let out "You'll pay for what you've done!" as he lept forward.

Unfortunetly for him Reaper wasn't surprised, and instead of trying to jump away, he eadied himself, and once Genji was in his range, he hit him with an immensly powerful uppercut.

Genji could feel as the metal at the buttom of his mask began to slightly crumple, as he flew a few meters back.

Not wasting any time, Reaper went over to Genji, and in one swift motion, he grapped Genji by the shoulders, and threw him towards Winston, who was unprepared to dodge.

The two collided midair, and then plummeted towards the ground.

Following this, Reaper once again pulled out his shotguns, but before he could manage to fire at the two vulnerable combatants on the ground, Reinhardt put his shield in between them.

Annoyed, Reaper began firing at the shield, knowing it couldn't withstand this for long.

"Angela, you'll need to work fast. This won't hold forever!" Reinhardt warned, as he continued to keep up his shield.

Angela simply nodded in response, before kneeling down before Winston and Genji.

First trying to wake them up the normal way, Angela called out their names. "Winston? Genji?"

Winston slowly opened his eyes and groaned, but Genji wasn't so lucky. He was still uncounciouss, so Angela tried again. "Genji!" She called out again, but no response.

Desperat, since cracks were beginning to show in Reinhardt's shield, Angela did the only thing she could think off. She bent down over him, and slapped him across the cheek.

Genji immediately awoke, and sat up straight. "Angela?" He asked, confused, but all Angela had to do was nod in the direction of Reaper.

As Genji got up along with Winston, Reinhardt exclaimed "Only a few more moments! What do we do?!"

"Stay back, and protect anyone behind the shield!" Winston ordered. "Angela, remain behind it! Me and Genji will handle him."

Angela nodded, and Winston turned towards Reinhardt, as he said "Drop it in 3... 2... 1. NOW!"

Reinhardt dropped his shield, and Winston and Genji both dove towards Reaper, as Reinhardt and Angela retreated a few meters back.

Unprepared for the sudden assault, Reaper turned into smoke, seconds before Winston hit him.

"Keep your eyes open!" Winston said, and Genji nodded, before they started to scan the enviroment. They did so for a few seconds, until they both heard a noise from the shop. They turned towards the noise, only to see a table come flying towards them.

Genji immediately dashed forward and sliced the table in two, but as he did so, Reaper materialized behind Winston. "Behind you, monkey." He taunted, before shooting Winston in the back. "YAARG!" The gorilla shouted. Most of the pellets had bounced off the armor, but three had penetrated it, and dug themselves deep within him.

"WINSTON!" Everyone else called out, and as Genji dashed towards the mercenary, pulling him away from Winton, Angela glid over to him.

She immediately knelt down besides him, and as Reinhardt put his shield up in front of them, she began to find the necessary equipment in her pockets. She quickly found them, before beginning to remove the bullets. Normally, this could wait until after the mission, but Reaper's bullets were different. She knew from past experiences that they should be removed as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile this was happening, Genji kept Reaper's attention on him, by mainly deflecting his shots, and occationally throwing a shuriken.

Eventually, Reaper got annoyed over Genji's strategy, and decided to go on the offensive. He turned into smoke and dove in close to Genji, who instinctively sliced at him with his wakizashi. But to Genji's surprise, Reaper caught it in his bare hands. Even as Genji continued to push, and blood slowly started running down his hand, Reaper didn't seem to care, as he kept holding.

"Primitive." Reaper mocked, before suddenly pulling heavily, completely shattering the blade. As he let go of the pieces in his hand, he stared at Genji who was looking back with a look of disbelief.

Under his mask, Reaper smiled, but as he was about to shoot the defenseless Genji, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

He turned towards it, and saw Reinhardt's hammer coming at him from above. Not having time to dive out of the way, Reaper put his arms over body, and blocked the hammer.

Even as he ground under Reaper's feet started to crack, and his back started to hurt, he stood his ground and kept pushing back against the hammer.

However, unbeknownst to Reaper, this was what Reinhardt wanted. The german knight turned towards Genji, and shouted "Genji! The Tesla Cannon!"

At first confused, Genji looked next to Reinhardt, where he saw the aformentioned weapon lying. Now he got what Reinhardt was thinking. Genji quickly dashed over to the cannon, and even though he wasn't strong enough to lift it, it was luckily already pointing at Reaper.

Not wasting any time, Genji immediately activated the cannon, and Reinhardt pulled back in the last moment, before the electricity from the cannon connected with Reaper.

Reaper's body began to violently spasm, and burn marks appeared all over it, as he was hit with the electricity. However, he still managed to turn his head towards Genji, and mutter "This... isn't over... Shimada." before turning into smoke, that shot straight up in the air, before dispersing.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Reinhardt turned towards Angela. "How's he looking?" The german knight asked concerned.

"I've done all I can for him now." Angela admitted, as she stood up. "But we should have him checked, as soon as we return." She added, and Reinhardt nodded.

"Well, at least we'll be done once McCree, 76 and Fareeha return." Genji added, and Angela nodded.

* * *

Fareeha continued to fly upwards, until she finally saw the highest level of the station.

She quickly made her way up, but when she did, she saw something she hadn't expected. Around the AA turret, which was standing in the middle of a small garden, stood a small squad of Talon operatives.

Fareeha quickly landed, before the squad saw her, and went behind cover, as she tried to some up with a plan.

"Think, think! What should I do...?" She muttered to herself. She knew she had to take down the turret, before it tried to shoot her down, which could easily bring down the entire station on their heads. But as she did so, the squad could easily shoot her. She had take them all out in one action.

However, her rockets didn't have enough force to do so. "The turret's rockets." She muttered to herself. If she could hit one of the turrets rockets, THAT explosion would be powerful enough.

Now knowing what to do, Fareeha got up and set off from the ground, before firing a shot at the Talon operative furthest away from the turret.

As the rocket hit the unsuspecting operative, all the other operatives turned their heads towards Fareeha.

"Shit, it's her! Quick! Aim the turret at her!" One of the operatives shouted, and Fareeha smiled under her helmet. They were doing exactly what she wanted them to do.

Another operative nodded and quickly ran behind the turret, as the remaining two started firing at Fareeha. However, Fareeha easily avoided the shots, and simply kept an eye on the turret, so she could hit it, before it hit her.

Finally, the turret started turning around, and Fareeha aimed at it.

"Just a little more..." She muttered, as she placed her finger over the trigger. Eventually, the turret aimed right at her.

"Gotcha." She said, and she fired off a single rocket. The rocket flew along the expected path, before colliding with the rocket inside the turret.

A giant explosion suddenly engulfed the entire garden, and Fareeha herself only just managed to avoid the fireball. However, the shockwave still hit her, and it sent her flying several meters back, while spinning around.

Luckily, she was trained for this, and she quickly regained her balance.

She briefly looked at the burnt garden, before she turned towards the rest of the team. They were all on the same level as when she left, and Reaper couldn't be seen anywhere. They must've defeated him.

Angela suddenly saw Fareeha in the sky, and signaled her. Fareeha answered with a thumbs-up, and Angela responded two more thumbs-up.

However, their happy reunion didn't last long.

Out of nowhere, a long wire shot up from the balcony below Fareeha, and everyone on the opposite balcony couldn't do anything but watch helplessly, as it wrapped around her neck, and violently pulled her down. Fareeha landed hard on her back, but quickly tried to escape by rolling over on her stomach and getting up.

However, she stopped when her head hit something. Confused, she looked up, only to stare down the barrel of the Widow's Kiss, as a seductive voice behind it said "What have we got here?"


	14. - and the Spider

"You." Fareeha said, hate and spite dripping from her words like poison.

All Widowmaker did in response was to chuckle, as she pressed the gunbarrel towards Fareeha's forehead. "Should we continue the family tradition?" She then asked, in a mocking voice.

At first, Fareeha looked up at her in silence. All she wanted to do in that moment was to wipe the grin off her mother's muderer's face. Preferably with a rocket. However, she knew that would likely result in her own death, and then she'd be of no help to her friends.

She let out sigh, before looking into Widowmaker's eyes with determination. "We don't have a tradition." She answered, before firing her concussive blast on the wall behind Widowmaker, knocking them both out over the edge.

Fareeha immediately activated her suits rockets, and as she ascended upwards, she saw Widowmaker using her grappeling hook to get up on the third floor.

Fareeha was about to go after her, when a message appeared on her display: 'Fuel Low'.

"Goddammit." She mumbled to herself, before quickly deciding to head back to the others.

As she landed on the same level as the others, she was suddenly pulled down behind the railing, that thankfully provided full cover. "What...?" She started, but she was cut off when a bullet flew past her face.

At first dazed over how close she was to dying there, she eventually looked at who'd saved her, and saw Genji. "Thanks." She simply said.

"You're welcome, but why aren't you flying?" He asked, as another bullet flew over them.

"My fuel reserves are low." Fareeha simply explained, and Genji let out an annoyed sigh. As no one said anything, Fareeha looked around and saw that Angela was the only other person with them behind the railing.

"Where's everyone else?" Fareeha asked, as a bullet hit the railing's metal cover.

"Reinhardt took the uncouncious Winston inside the shop." Angela explained.

"And since he can't really fit behind here, he's staying there until we figure out just what to do." Genji added.

"Well, then what ARE we supposed to do now?" Fareeha asked, as a bullet hit the very top of the railing, and bounced off.

"I don't know!" Genji snapped back, clearly frustrated over their situation. "Winston's uncouncious, and both McCree and 76 aren't close enough to come and help us!" He added.

"Genji, please calm down." Angela tried, and Genji let out a low sigh.

"I know... sorry." Genji apologized.

There were a few moments of silence, Widowmaker's relentless assault the only noise in the hall, until Fareeha remembered something. "What about your short-sword?" She asked Genji.

"No use." The cyborg ninja responded with a disheartend voice, as he showed her the broken hilt. "Reaper." Genji answered her question, before she'd even had a chance to ask.

Fareeha took the hilt in her hands, and looked as if she was deep in thought, as she looked at it.

"What are you thinking?" Angela asked.

"I just remembered something my mother used to say about sniping." Fareeha answered, before explaining further.

"Two of the most important things you needed when sniping was concentration and reflexes. However, those two things could also easily make you very twitchy, and sometimes you could get distracted by unimportant movement." She explained, and both Angela and Genji knew where she was going with this.

"You want to temporarily distract her?" Genji asked, and Fareeha nodded.

"Yes." She confirmed. "I was thinking if you could stay here, Angela, and throw this, me and Genji could the start to close the distance, with much less risk, if she takes the bait."

"If?" Genji asked.

"Yes. Talon may have counteracted it, somehow, I don't know." Fareeha admitted.

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Genji argued. "Besides, it's the closest thing we have to a plan."

"Right, let's do this." Angela encouraged. Fareeha quickly handed her the broken hilt, before moving towards the edge of the level with Genji.

When both Genji and Fareeha had reached the edge of the level, they turned towards Angela. The Swiss doctor nodded, and the two nodded back, before Angela focused her attention of hilt.

She pulled back her arm, and after three seconds, she threw it with all the force she could muster in the direction opoosite of Genji and Fareeha.

For a few moments, the hilt soared through the air. Not a single sound was heard. Every muscle, mechanical or organic, in both Fareeha and Genji's bodies were tensed, and ready to unleash at a moments notice.

Then, with a single metallic shriek, the hilt shattered mid-air.

Both Genji and Fareeha sprinted forwards in that moment. However, Genji knew that splitting futher up could make them more vulnerable, so he lowered his speed to match with Fareeha.

As they ran through the hall, Genji noticed a figure moving above them, and a reflection of light, but he didn't really have time to think about it.

They both continued to run, while Angela looked on from behind the railing, but as they did, Fareeha noticed that, after the hilt, Widowmaker hadn't taken another shot at them.

Upon realizing this, Fareeha looked up towards Widowmaker's position. It took her a few seconds, but she eventually managed to spot the assassin. And she was aiming right at them!

Fareeha quickly looked at Genji, who was a few feet in front of her.

Acting quickly, Fareeha activated her jump jets. But instead of launching her upwards, she aimed herself forward, and she quickly rammed right into Genji.

At first, Genji was confused. But when he felt the sensation of a bullet missing him, he immediately understood.

The pair continued to unwillingly tumble forward, until they luckily stopped behind the railing of an escalator. They both got up quickly, but as Genji was about to take a step out from the railing, a bullet whisked right past him.

He quickly retreated back into cover, but now they were stuck again.

They sat behind cover for a few seconds, until Fareeha made a decision. She looked at excactly how much fuel she had left, and decided it was enough.

"Be ready to go!" She suddenly said to Genji, who at first didn't understand.

"What are you doing?" Genji asked back.

"I'm going to distract her, so you can make a run for it." Fareeha quickly explained, as she reloaded her rocket launcher.

"I thought you didn't have any more fuel!" Genji asked.

"I have enough for about a minute, three at most." Fareeha slightly absentmindedly answered.

As Fareeha was done checking her gear, she looked up at Genji, her eyes filled with determination.

"Make sure she gets what she deserves." Fareeha said, as her departing words. Genji nodded, and Fareeha immediately shot up into the sky, and aimed her rocket launcher at Widowmaker, who was luckily still in the same spot.

The assassin was about to shoot Fareeha, but the egyptian was too quick and she managed to shoot a rocket before Widowmaker could manage to shoot her.

Annoyed, she shot out her grappeling hook, and pulled herself up to a balcony, just as the rocket hit the wall behind her. She quickly extended her sniping rifle, and aimed at Fareeha, who was visibly starting to loose movement in the air.

A smile crept upon her face, as she put a finger over the trigger.

Fareeha still used whatever fuel she had left to turn and aim at Widowmaker, meanwhile the assassin adjusted her rifle slightly, so the crosshair was just over Fareeha's right eye.

She got a tighter grip around the trigger, and she held her breath. She was about to shoot, when she felt something forcing it to move a little to the right, making her miss.

Further annoyed, she turned to her left, only to see Genji standing with one remaining shuriken in his hand.

"Overwatch's hound dog." Widowmaker exclaimed, as she stood up and turned towards him.

"You're one to talk." Genji retorted, as he reloaded on shurikens. Admittedly, he did feel more vulnerable without his wakizashi, but he wasn't going to give Widowmaker the pleasure of knowing that.

Widowmaker simply chuckled, as she aimed the Widow's Kiss at him.

"Just you?" She then asked, in a mocking tone. "You're not going to help your supposed friends?"

"I'm helping them by getting rid of you." Genji retorted, his voice cold and unempathetic. "Besides, if it's anything like how you 'helped' Reaper, then don't count on it." He added, as he slowly started circling her.

"That wasn't my fault." Widowmaker was now the one to retort. "Even if I wanted to help, he wanted to take you on himself. I'm not the one to blame, when he's the one who overestimates his abilities."

"Perhaps." Genji answered. "And perhaps I should be thankful you waited until after we'd dealt with him." He added, as he continued circling her.

"You should be." Widowmaker said.

Genji stopped circling her, and stared straight into Widowmaker's cold eyes. "And as a how of gratitude..." Genji started, as his stance suddenly became more offensive. "... I'll try to restrain myself from beating you TO A BLOODY PULP!" He shouted, as he suddenly charged her.

Unprepared for the sudden assault Widowmaker instinctively aimed her rifle at Genji, but the cyborg ninja was too quick. He quickly grapped the barrel with one hand, and pulled it away from him, before kicking it out of Widowmaker's hand.

He swiftly followed it up with a punch to the head, but Widowmaker put her gauntlet in between, stopping the hit.

Exploiting his brief vulnerability, she followed it up kicking Genji's chest, knocking him a few meters back.

Genji managed to get up quickly, as the Widow's Kiss landed right behind it's owner. She took a small step back, as Genji aimed his shurikens at her, warning her not to go any further.

Instead of risking it, by going after her rifle, Widowmaker instead shot out her grapppeling hook at Genji, but the ninja managed to grap it mid-air, before quickly yanking her towards him.

Once the assassin was within his reach, he gave her head a hard backhand, knocking her into the wall, and breaking her nose.

Genji quickly bend down over her, before grapping her around the throat, and lifting her up against the wall.

"Don't bother resisting." He said, as his grip around her throat began to ever so slightly tighten.

At first, all Widowmaker did, was to put her right hand around Genji's unyielding wrist, as she tried to support herself on her legs.

"You'll pay for what Talon has done here." Genji hissed.

"So what? Now I'm the scapegoat for something I hardly took part in?" Widowmaker asked, as her eyes suddenly locked on to Genji's visor.

"Your, socalled 'teammate', left you to clean up what you did to my people." Genji responded.

"Your people?" Widowmaker suddenly asked. "These aren't your people. Not any longer. You're an abomination of nature."

"No. I grew up close to here. This is my place, and you know it!" Genji defied, but cracks of uncertainty were starting to appear in his voice, and Widowmaker smiled.

"No one here knows you. No one here cares about you." Widowmaker argued. "And even if they did, they'd only remember you as a member of a crime syndicate." She added.

"No, I'm their protector. It's my duty." Genji argued back, sounding more desperate.

"All you did before your transformation was using the people you came across, to suit yourself." Widowmaker continued.

"No..." Genji responded, but Widowmaker continued. "You're lucky they don't know you, otherwise they'd despise you for who you used to be. And what you've become. You..."

"SHUT UP!" Genij shouted, as he punched the wall next to Widowmaker's face, cracking it. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" He shouted.

"Oh please, your head isn't private anymore." The assassin responded, and Genji's expression turned from rage to surprise.

"Yes..." Widow then said. "... we know about your good doctor's pet."

"YEAARGH!" Genji shouted in frustration, as he turned around, and threw her into the railing, bending it. However, as she looked up at him, her expression was that of triumph.

She simply chuckled, before pushing a button on her wrist, detonating the venom mine planted on the wall behind Genji.

A purple smoke enveloped Genji, and quickly entered his respiratory system. He immediately began to couch violently, as he fell to his knees.

Widowmaker simply continued to chuckle, as she got up, and walked over to her rifle. She bent down and picked it up, as Genji, still coughing, fell over.

"At least your tech will be valuable to Talon. Once you're dead, of course." She taunted, as she walked over to the fallen Genji.

"You should have learned from your british friend's example." She said, before aiming the rifle at Genji's head.

Desperately seeking for any way out of his situation, Genji looked up towards the roof, when he saw something. The same reflection of light, and the same shadowy figure, right under the roof.

Something about that figure intrigued Genji, and he kept looking, when he suddenly saw something else about the figure. The relfection og light suddenly began to get bigger and bigger. It was coming towards him. No, not him. Widowmaker.

Genji continued to follow the lights path, as it came closer and closer to the unaware Widowmaker.

And then, it suddenly collided with her rifle, and pinned it against the wall, as Genji finally saw what it was: An arrow.

Only a split second later, another arrow landed right in front of Genji's face, but this one was different. As Genji examined it, he saw that it was much more detailed than the other. And then he saw what was painted on the arrow: A green and a blue dragon.

Suddenly reinvigorated, Genji first put his left hand against the ground, then the right one. Then, with whatever energy he could muster, he managed to stand upright.

"You... were going to hurt my friends and people." He said, as Widowmaker started back at him, with surprise in her eyes.

"You... wanted to destroy and kill." He then said, as his right hand suddenly began to move behind his back.

"But I won't let you." Genji then said, with an incredible amount of determination in his voice. "These people are under my protection, and you will. Not. Harm. Them!" Genji finished, as his hand grapped the hilt of his katana."

" _Ryūjin no ken wo kūrae!_ " Genji shouted, as he drew his sword. All of his energy was immediately restored to his body, and the poison evaporated from his veins, as the green dragon followed the movement of his blade.

Genji immediately dashed forward, and sliced at Widowmaker, forcing her to dogde, instead of retrieving her rifle.

Genji straight away followed it up with another swipe, this one too quick for her to dogde. Instead she raised her gauntlet to block. However, once the sword made contact with the gauntlet, it shattered it effortlessly.

The now defenceless Widowmaker took a single step back, but Genji swung at her again. This time, she didn't have the time to do anything. Pain immediately shot through her entire body, as the blade cut over her left eye, and the flesh above and below it.

With a loud "AAARGH!", Widowmaker fell to the ground, and curled up, as she out her hand over her cut eye.

"Surrender." Genji said in a cold voice, as he stood triumphant over her. The dragon dissapeared, as he sheathed his sword, but energy still flowed through his bosy, and he was ready if she tried anything.

"Never!" Widowmaker responded, as she raised her head in defiance, letting Genji see the purplish blood that ran through her fingers.

"I wasn't asking." Genji simply responded.

Looking for any escape, Widowmaker unexpectedly swept Genji's feet away from under him, before suddenly getting up, and running towards the remains of her gauntlet.

She quickly managed to find the, somehow still working, grappeling hook, and as Genji managed to get up, she shot out the hook, and escaped up to the roof, where she vanished.

Genji simply went over to the remains of her gauntlet, and looked up at where she'd dissapeared. He then quickly looked for the archer, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Let that scar be a reminder of what happened today." He mumbled, before jumping down, to check on the others.

* * *

Soldier 76 and McCree was going up the stairs, towards the main hall, after being done securing the lower levels.

Apart from two, quite uncoordinated, groups of Talon operatives, they hadn't run into any trouble.

However, they forgot about it almost immediately, when they finally entered the main hall, only to see Reinhardt and Genji carrying an uncounciouss Winston.

"What happened here?" 76 asked, and Genji went over to answer, as McCree took his place.

"Reaper got him bad, but dr. Ziegler's done all she can for him." Genji explained.

"Then I'll take it you managed to fend him off?" 76 then asked, and Genji nodded.

"Yes, but there were... further complications." Genji answered.

"What kind of complications?" 76 inquired, and Genji started telling him about how they managed to defeat Widowmaker, as they began to walk back to the dropship, along with the rest of the team.

"... and then, once I made it up to her, I eventually managed to scare her off, and give her a scar to remember it." Genji finished his tale, purposefully leaving out the part about the archer.

"Well, nicely done." 76 complimented, as they entered the dropship.

The ship took off, and as Genji was about to sit down, 76 asked him one last question. "Anything else I should know?"

Genji subtetly put his hand over his pockets, to feel the decorated arrow, he'd taken with him.

"No." He eventually answered. "That's everything you need to know."

* * *

 **A/N: And that's the second part. Now, due to the nature of this story, the majority of what I write, and you read, is characters talking. Action-focused chapters like these are, admittedly, few and far between. And a consequence of that, for me at least, is that I get much less experience in writing action, and as such, once these chapters FINALLY appear, I'm more out of my comfort zone than usual, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I believe that, as a writer, I should always strive to improve in every possible way. So if you have any feedback related to these sorts of chapters, then I'd love to hear it (Yeah, I know it might've been better to ask this in the previous chapter, but I forgot about it there). Until next time.**


	15. Troubles of Past and Present

Max, Mei, Lucio and Torbjorn were standing in the hangar, and watched as the dropship began its flight towards Kyoto.

Even when the dropship had dissapeared into the sky, the four people kept standing for a minute or two. Torbjorn was finally the one to first turn around, and everyone else soon followed suit. Max intentionally fell a bit behind, so he could listen to the conversation among the members of Overwatch.

"Lena's still in her room?" Mei asked, as the trio walked through the hallways, with Max close behind.

"She was last time I checked." Torbjorn answered.

Mei let out a low sigh, before admitting "I'm a bit worried about her."

"Yeah, she's spent a lot of time in her room as of late." Lucio commented, before adding "And today more so than usual."

"Wait, wasn't the last person she spoke to you?" Torbjorn asked, as he turned towards Max. "When you had that conversation with her?" He added.

"That actually wasn't the last time I spoke with her." Max admitted, as he closed the gap between them.

"I also made a quick stop by her room, after the conversations were over." He explained, with an apologetic smile on his face.

"What for?" Mei asked, both concern and curiosity present in her voice.

"While I would love to share it with you, it is something very personal to Lena, and I want her to present it to you, when she feels comfortable enough to do so." Max explained, with calm voice.

"If you say so." Lucio responded, and both Mei and Torbjorn nodded in agreement. They didn't want to push Lena.

They continued to walk in silence, until they passed by Torbjorn's workshop. The Swedish dwarf instinctively turned towards the door, but as he opened it, Lucio asked "You're not coming?"

"Sorry, but I have something I need to prepare." Torbjorn quickly apologized, before adding "But don't worry. I'll make sure dinner's ready on time." And with that, he dissapeared behind the door.

Mei and Lucio continued forward, with Max following close behind. They continued, until they eventually reached the 'Timewaste room', as 76 had called it.

"Hey guys!" A familiar brit suddenly called. Everyone immediately turned their heads, only to see Lena waving from a coutch in the corner, in front of a muted TV.

"Hi." Mei answered back, as she started walking towards her.

"You're not coming?" Mei asked the two boys, who were still standing in the opening.

"Sorry, but I need something to drink." Lucio excused himself, before he began walking towards the bar.

"I can't just leave him to himself." Max argued, and both Lena and Mei nodded with understanding. "If you'll excuse me." Max politely said, before following behind Lucio to the bar.

As he walked over to the bar, he heard a sound from the coutch, but couldn't hear excactly what it was, since Lucio asked "And what can I serve you?" at the same time.

"Just something non-alcoholic." Max simply answered, as he took a seat in front of the counter.

"Two virgin cuba litres coming right up!" Lucio answered, with a cheeky smile, and Max couldn't help but chuckle. Lucio quickly ducked behind the bar and found what he needed.

"You don't drink?" Lucio casually asked Max, as he stood back up with two glasses, and a bottle.

"The only time I've ever had alcohol was at a party at my old school. It ended... less than ideal." Max admitted, with a small chuckle.

"So that scared you off?" Lucio asked, as he poured the drinks.

"In a way, but not how you might think." Max explained.

"Hmm." Lucio simply answered, before putting the bottle back down under the counter.

"Well, cheers!" He then said, and Max promptly responded with "Cheers." They both took a small sip of their drinks.

"So... would you mind the telling the story?" Lucio asked, and Max looked at him with confusion. "About that school party." He clarified, and Max nodded, before putting down his drink.

"Well, it was the party right before our summer vacation and after the exams, and we were allowed to bring alcohol." Max started, and Lucio listened carefully.

"Me, being who I was, I didn't really do a whole lot at the party." Max started his tale. "I either looked on from the sidelines, or spoke with people. Mostly Angela however."

"You knew her at that point?" Lucio asked, before taking another sip of his drink.

"Yes." Max confirmed with a nod. "It was her second year in the school, and we'd grown very close." He explained.

"But how did alcohol get mixed up in everyhting?" Lucio then asked.

"To be honest, I'm not too sure." Max admitted. "I actively avoided it, since I've never been a drinker, but at some point, I think I just took the wrong glass." Max said, before taking a deep breath.

"It all started when I was watching almost everyone else dancing, to some music I don't remember, but I know I didn't like" Max continued.

"What music do you like then?" Lucio asked.

"I'll tell you at some point, but I think I'll just finish this before." Max explained, and Lucio nodded as Max took another sip of his drink.

"Well, getting back on track." Max said, as he put down his drink. "I was watching everyone else dance, and... I won't lie, my eyes were mostly on Angela." Max admitted, as his face becmae a little more red.

"You were a teenager." Lucio answered with a small smile, and Max acknowledged it with a "Definetly."

"Well, as I was standing and watching her, I had a drink in my hand." Max continued. "And I just took a sip of my drink, but then I immediately felt something was wrong. At that point, it wasn't very bad though, so I just chucked away my drink and left it at that."

Max took a short break, before continuing.

"Then, after only a few seconds, I felt something was wrong again, and I went towards the toilets, in case something happened." Max continued. "But, they were too far away, and it got so bad, I knew I wasn't going to make it on time."

"What did you do then?" Lucio asked.

Max was quiet for a little while, until he finally took a deep breath. "I almost jumped out a door, and just managed to make it over to a tree, before it started. I'll spare you the details, but just know that it came out the same way it came in." He said, and Lucio briefly stared at his drink, before putting it down on the table.

"That seems... a bit wierd." Lucio admitted, before asking "What did you do afterwards?"

"Once I was done, I luckily found a bench, and sat down on it. I felt like I was going to die from exhaustion." Max admitted.

"Then, after a little while, Angela suddenly sat down next to me. She explained that she'd suddenly noticed that I was missing, and then she quickly asked what'd happened." Max then told.

"That does sound like her." Lucio commented, and Max nodded. "Yeah, she cared about everyone even then." He then said.

The pair was quiet for a few seconds, none of them touched their drinks. Then Max spoke again. "Anyway, once I'd nodded in the direction of the tree, she sat down next to me, and we spent the rest of the night in each other's company." He told.

"So it did turn out good after all." Lucio said, as he grapped his drink again, but Max quickly shook his head.

"Not excactly." He said, and the brazilian DJ looked a him with confusion.

"I went to the doctor the next day, and I was diagnosed with a semi-severe case of alcohol intolerance." Max said.

"So that's why you don't drink!" Lucio said, as if he'd solved a complicated riddle.

"Yeah." Max simply confirmed, before grapping his drink.

"And you did get some private time with Angela." Lucio said with a cheeky smile, as he leaned against the counter.

"I guess you could say that." Max simply responded, a little bit uncomfortable with where the conversation was heading.

Lucio chuckled a bit over Max's discomfort, but eventually decided to relieve him off it. "Well, to long lasting friendships!" He said, as he raised his glass.

"To long lasting friendships." Max repeated, before they both drank what was left in their glasses.

* * *

"So... what are you watching?" Mei asked, as she sat down next to Lena.

"I dunno, to be honest." Lena admitted, and Mei could hear a tiredness in her voice. "I was mostly zapping around, but I found nothing. And here we are." She then explained.

"You sound tired." Mei commented, concern clear in her voice.

"I do?" Lena asked, as she turned off the TV.

"Yes you do." Mei confirmed, before asking "What happened?"

"What do you mean 'happened'?" Lena asked, as she turned towards Mei.

"You didn't join the others on the mission, and apart from now, you've barely been out of your room today. Something must've happened." Mei insisted.

Lena let out a sigh, before responded "Look, nothing happened. I'm just tired, that's all."

Mei was quiet for a while. She knew something definetly was nagging Lena, but she was very defensive about it, and Mei doubted if it was a good idea to keep pushing. However, she remembered what Max had said, and raised her head, to look Lena straight in the eyes.

"Max said something different though." She said, and Lena immediately responded "What did he say?" with both urgency and worry in her voice.

"Not much." Mei admitted, and Lena looked as if she calmed down a bit.

"But if he needed to have another, even more private, conversation with you, it must've been something more than just 'being tired'." Mei then said. She was quite heppy she managed to hide the uncertainty in her voice.

"Okay, yeah, there's... something." Lena hesitantly admitted. "But I don't want to talk about it."

"But I do!" Mei said, but before Lena could object, she added "And not just about you."

Lena's expression of annoyance suddenly turned to surprise, as she asked "What do you mean?"

"Lena, I'm your friend, and I only want what's best for you." Mei started, as she looked down at the floor.

"You weren't the only one to have another conversation with Max." Mei started, and Lena's curiosity was immediately peeked. "He also asked to see me, and once I came, he agreed to help me with a problem I didn't even know I had."

Mei took a deep breath, before looking back at Lena. "I believe he could do the same to you. If you let him." She said, but at first, all Lena did in response was sighing.

"Mei, I appreciate it, I really do, but... this is something personal, and I want to deal with it on my own." The brit responded.

"Lena, this is also something incredibly personal for me, but he seems to know how to help, and I'm willing to let him." Mei argued back.

"No offense Mei, but... how do we know our... problems are even remotely alike?" Lena asked. "Besides, what if he doesn't help? What if he only makes it worse?" She then asked.

"Lena, didn't he seem like someone who knew what he was talking about, when you had your conversation?" Mei asked, before adding "Besides. Does he seem like a person like a person who would let that happened?"

Lena turned her head in the direction of Max and Lucio, and looked at the former, as Mei followed her example.

As they looked at him, they could faintly hear him say "I either looked on from the sidelines, or talked with a few people. Mostly Ang..."

"No." Lena eventually answered, and Mei turned towards her. "He doesn't."

She continued to looked at him for a while, until Mei said "So?" and Lena immediately looked back at her.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Lena politely asked.

"So? Are you willing to let him help you?" Mei explained, and Lena's expression became one of uncertainty.

After a few seconds, she looked up at Mei, and said "I don't know. Not right now."

"Well, I can't force you to do anything." Mei admitted. "But Lena, as your friend, I encourage you to, at the very least, ask him what he can do." She said.

Lena simply let out a sigh, and Mei smiled, as she got up from the coutch.

As she walked towards Lucio and Max, she turned towards Lena, and said "He's not going to be here forever." before turning around.

She quickly made her way towards the boys, as they put down their glasses from a toast.

"Hey Mei!" Lucio suddenly exclaimed, when he saw her approach. "You just missed Max's tale of how he threw up at a school party." He then said, and Mei looked at Max with confusion.

"Really?" She simply asked, and Max reluctantly nodded.

"While there IS more to it than that, I did do that." Max then said.

"Mind telling it again?" Mei then asked, but Max was initially quiet.

"... Sure." He eventually answered.

"Well, like Lucio here just said, it was at a..." However, Max was almost immediately cut off, when he began to cough.

"You okay?" Lucio asked, since it in all honesty, sounded pretty bad.

"Yeah, I... think I just had something in my throat." Max eventually answered, once he was done coughing.

"Well, it all started at a school party..." Max then said, as he began to retell the story.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of friendly discussions. Torbjorn suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Well, the food's done, so if anyone's feeling up for it, dinner's ready." He said, in his usual self.

Max and Mei turned around towards the dwarf, as Lena almost jumped out of the coutch, while commenting "About time. I was almost beginning to starve over here".

Torbjorn just rolled with his eyes, before he turned around, and started walking back towards the dining area.

The trio at the bar quickly catched up with Torbjorn and Lena, as they all began to walk back through the corridors.

"So, did you make it just for us, or also the team in the field?" Lucio curiosly asked, and Torbjorn turned towards him.

"Just for us." He answered. "We haven't heard anything from the other team, so we don't know whether they're on their way or not. And then the food would go to waste." Torbjorn then explained, and Lucio nodded.

"And with how scarce our resources are, we shouldn't waste any." Mei summarized.

"Exactly." Torbjorn acknowledged.

The team continued to trek on in silence. They eventually reached the dining area, and once the doors opened, the smell of fresh food made a lot of stomachs rumble.

Lucio and Lena immediately sprinted towards the treys of food, Lena even seeming to forget she could blink, with Mei walking right behind them. Max remained in the doorframe with Torbjorn. He briefly felt a bit exhausted, but it was over quickly.

"I get the feeling you wanna ask me something." Torbjorn said, and Max nodded, neither of them looking away from the others.

"Are you the sole chef here, or can multiple people here fill that role?" Max asked, as he turned his eyes towards Tobjorn.

"No." The Swedish dwarf simply answered, before he started walking towards the food himself. Max followed close behind, as he listened to the Swedish elaborate.

"Both Reinhardt and Genji also knows how to make decent meals, and everyone knows how to cook to some extent." He explained, as they reached the food.

Torbjorn quickly filled their plates, as he continued "However, the others have several times called me the best chef among us. Not that I mind that at all." He added with a small grin.

Max simply nodded, before they both found a place to sit. Torbjorn sat beside Mei, and over from Lucio, while Max sat on the other side of Mei and over from Lena.

Friendly chat soon filled the room, as everyone started eating.

"So, Torb, how's the 'project' coming along?" Lucio asked, with a stuffed mouth, something that had previously annoyed Max, but now he'd learned to just ignore it.

"Better than I'd feared. Worse than I'd hoped." Tobjorn simply answered.

"And we still can't know what it is? Even if we promise not to tell the others?" Lucio then asked, but Torbjorn shaked his head.

"Sorry, but spoiling the surprise would ruin all the fun." He answered with an apologetic, yet still a little smug, smile.

"Oh come on." Lena intervened. "What could be so mind-blowingly awesome that we can't even get a sneak peak?" She added.

"I'll say this much." Torbjorn then said, seemingly giving in a little. "It's going to be something that can help us all immensly."

"Yeah, that doesn't really narrow it down though." Lucio commented.

"For all we know, you could be making..." He started, but he was cut off, when a noise suddenly came from Max's seat.

Everyone immediately turned their heads, only to see Max with his hand over his mouth, coughing again. But this time it seemed more violent. "Hey buddy, you okay?" Lucio asked, but even if Max wanted to answer, he couldn't through the barrage of coughs.

Lena got a worried look on her face, and quickly blinked next to him.

"Max?" She asked, but Max's coughs kept getting more violent. Torbjorn considered taking him to the med-bay, but suddenly he stopped.

"You okay now?" Lena asked, but Max didn't answer. Instead, with a colorless face, he slowly raised his shaking hand from his mouth.

"What's wrong?" Lena kept asking, but Max kept being silent. Eventually, his hand reached his eyes, and his expression turned from worry and fear, to shock and outright terror.

Curious, Lena leaned in over to see what he was looking at, and once she did, she gasped. Max's hand was covered in blood.

"Lena, what's happening?" Mei nervously asked Lena, apparently having realized that Max wasn't going to answer.

"I don't know, he's..." Lena started, but she was cut off. As if on a cue, Max coughed again, but this time there wasn't any hand in front of his mouth. The blood from his mouth scattered across the table, and everyone immediately got up from their seats.

"Jesus." Lucio mumbled.

Max suddenly grapped his neck, and did something that sounded like coughing and being choked at the same time, while blood flowed with ever increasing volumes from his mouth.

"LUCIO, GO PREPARE THE MED BAY. LENA, MEI, HELP ME CARRY HIM THERE AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!" Torbjorn suddenly shouted, as Max's breath became more unstable.

* * *

 **A/N: From Tuesday to Friday, I'll be in Poland with my class and teachers. Not my choice, and I know the timing really sucks, but I can't really change that. However, it won't keep me from writing entirely, it will just minimize the amount of writing I can get done, and as such, the next chapter will likely be delayed. Not by a lot, if we're lucky only 1 or 2 days, but still a few. Thanks for understanding, and until next time.**


	16. The Prices we Pay

**A/N: First off, thank you guys so much for the support on the last chapter. It honestly made my day. Also, if you're wondering why this took so little time, it's because my trip to Poland actually gave me MORE spare time to write, instead of LESS, which I thought.  
** **Also, this chapter is MUCH shorter because, well, I just felt like I couldn't add anything more to it, without distracting or just dragging it on for much longer than it needs. So, I hope you don't mind the shorter nature of this chapter.  
** **Now, with all that explaining out of the way, I just want to touch on some fun stuff. Why Max began to cough blood will be explained this chapter, but there were a few... theories, I suppose, I wanted to give a response on:  
** **Cancer: Max doesn't have lung cancer. It would've just been too cruel to give him that, along with everything else.  
** **Mutation: In all honesty, the idea of Max's disease mutating/adapting is a really cool one, but if I want to stay scientifically accurate, I won't be using it. Why? Because retinitis pigmentosa is a real life disease.  
** **Now that this is out of the way, let's continue.**

* * *

The dropship finally appraoched Watchpoint: Gibraltar after a grueling hourlong flight. During the trip, Winston had thankfully woken up, and the mood had generally been good. However, that changed a few minutes before landing.

"I've contacted the base and let them know we're arriving." Athena said, but quickly followed it up with "However, no one answered the call."

"No one?" Angela curiosly asked.

"Correct, dr. Ziegler." Athena acknowldged. The ship was briefly quiet, until 76 spoke.

"Have there been any communications from the base while we were away?" He asked, but once again, Athena had to dissapoint.

"I'm afraid not. The base has been completely silent during the mission." She answered.

"Well, I supose we can't do much but wait and see." 76 responded, before adding "Keep us updated if anything happens, Athena."

"I will, 76." The AI responded, before turning off.

The rest of the trip was mostly quiet, everyone wondering in their own minds, what could be the reason for the quiet base.

After about fifteen minutes, the watchpoint finally appeared on the horizon.

With a small thump, the dropship landed in the large hangar. The door on the side opened, and 76 and Reinhardt immediately stepped out, followed closely by Genji, Fareeha and McCree, with Angela helping Winston in the back.

At first, 76 looked around and concluded, much to his dismay, that there wasn't any welcoming commitee. They were alone.

"Where is everyone?" McCree asked, but before anyone had a chance to answer, the door at the end of the hangar opened.

Everyone turned towards the door, only to see Lucio come strolling towards them.

The team began to walk towards the brazilian DJ, but as they approached him, they could see he had a somber look on his face, which was very unlike him.

"Kid, what happened?" 76 asked once he was close enough.

At first, Lucio didn't answer. Instead, he slightly raised his head and briefly looked at Angela.

"It... would be better if you saw it for yourself." The DJ answered in a voice as somber as his expression, which, again, was very unlike him.

He turned around and waved for the others to follow, as he began to lead them into the base.

With nervous expressions, the team followed him.

"You're not going to tell us anything about what the hell happened here?" 76 asked in a slightly aggresive tone. Angela was about to say something, but Lucio answered first.

"I don't really know, to be honest." He answered in a calm yet bewildered voice. "I mean... it happened so quickly..." Lucio continued, before trailing off.

"How about you just tell us where we're going?" Reinhardt then asked, in a much more comforting tone.

"Oh, sure." Lucio responded, as if he'd woken up from a daydream.

"We're walking towards the med-bay." He then explained. "Torbjorn sent me to pick you up, once he saw the message Athena sent. He also wanted me to apologize for not answering."

"Torb's there?" McCree asked, and Lucio nodded.

"Yeah, along with Lena." He explained. McCree nodded, and the group continued on in silence.

To make it to the med-bay, the team had to walk past the dining area. However, when they did, Angela stopped dead in her tracks.

"Is that...?" She asked. Everyone else immediately stopped and peeked inside to see what Angela had seen.

On the middle table was a cone of dried blood, with a little bit of it still being liquid, and dripping off the side, at what seemed to be the source.

It wasn't because Angela had never seen blod before, she'd stopped. Some of her earlier operations had left her with an outfit more red than white. No, she'd stopped because she'd never expected to see it in what she considered her home and the safest place to be.

"Yes." 76 bluntly answered, before continuing on towards the med-bay.

Angela simply let out a reluctant sigh, before following behind, in the back.

They continued through the otherwise empty base, until they reached the med-bay. Lucio turned around, and said "I'll be with Mei, outside, if anyone needs me."

76 simply nodded, and Lucio went away, leaving the team in front of the door, behind which they didn't know what was.

Almost everyone was a bit nervous about opening it, but 76 didn't give them any chance to prepare. With no warning, he opened the door and stormed inside, with the rest following hesitantly behind.

Inside the med-bay stood Lena over a bed, while Torbjorn was looking at a datapad in his synthetic hand. Once the two noticed the new arrivals, Lena looked at Torbjorn questioningly, and the dwarf nodded.

Lena briefly returned her gaze to the others, before taking a few steps to the side, letting them see what, or who, was on the bed.

Max was lying on the bed, unconciouss, and with a medical respirator over his mouth and nose. Though unstably and sparatically, he was breathing, and his sunglasses were lying on the bedside table next to him.

"What is it?" A voice from the back suddenly asked, and everyone, even 76, froze. It was Angela's voice. 76 and Reinhardt briefly looked at each other, before stepping to the side, letting her see.

At first, Angela couldn't really make out who it was. But once she did, she gasped as she put her hands over her mouth and nose. "Max..." She mumbled in a shocked voice, before she slowly began to walk over to him.

She made her way over to him quite quickly, and stopped right next to his bed. "I never meant..." She whispered in a voice that sounded like it could break at any moment. As she looked at her childhood friend, with increasingly tearful eyes, she noticed that a single drop of blood was running from Max's mouth, down his cheek.

"I... How did this...?" Angela stumbled over her words, like they weren't her own, as she gently wiped the drop away.

"I believe I may know how." Torbjorn suddenly said behind Angela. However, in Angela's shock, she'd completely forgotten about the others. So when Torbjorn answered her, it startled her a little.

After recovering from the surprise, she turned towards the swedish and asked "What... do you think did... this." Her voice was very heavy, and she uncounciously still had her hand on Max's cheek.

Torbjorn quickly turned around, and pressed a few buttons on the datapad, which brought up a 3D hologram of Max's body.

"After we made sure he was safe, I took the liberty of scanning his body to see if I could find the cause." Torbjorn explained as Angela took a few steps closer.

"And did you find it?" Reinhardt asked, and Torbjorn nodded.

"Yes. Take a look at this." The swedish answered, before pressing a few more buttons on the datapad.

The hologram quickly began to move and zoom in on the chest. Skin, flesh and bone soon began to dissapear, leaving only the lungs left.

"I may not be a biologist, but I believe lungs aren't supposed to look like that." Torbjorn commented, as everyone looked at the holographic lungs.

What had once been perfectly functional lungs, were now small and filled with a few holes here and there. And they expanded much less than normally, when the hologram breathed in.

Angela simply looked at them, with her hand over her mouth, in complete silence.

"What... happened to them?" Genji asked.

"Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure." Torbjorn admitted. "But from my work in the past, I believe that looks a lot like acidic corrotion." He continued.

"So he ate something with acid hidden in it?" McCree asked, but Torbjorn shook his head.

"No." Torbjorn explained. "If he ate something acidic, it would've corroded his stomach, not his lungs."

"So what? He inhaled some sort of... airborne acid?" 76 asked.

"That's the theory." Torbjorn admitted, with a voice almost as heavy as Angela's, as he closed the hologram with the datapad, before putting it on a desk.

"How could airborne acid find its way into this base?" McCree asked out loud, but he was promptly answered by Fareeha.

"Why did we bring him here?" Fareeha retorically asked, and McCree nodded.

"Right, the traitor." McCree said in a heavy voice.

Silence soon filled the room, as no one knew what to say. As Genji looked around the room, he noticed something. Angela had walked back over to Max, and was standing with her back turned towards the others.

As Genji looked at her with sympathy, everyone else began to see what he was looking at, and soon everyone was looking at Angela.

"What did you do to help?" Angela asked without turning away from the unconciouss Max. Her voice was once again sounding like it could break any moment.

"We injected him with a rather large portion of your nanobots." Torbjorn explained. "It was the only way where we didn't have to..." The dwarft trailed off into silence.

"Open him up." 76 carelessly answered.

"Yes." Torbjorn acknowledged, with clear distain for 76's bluntness present in his voice.

Angela simply nodded, still with her gaze on Max. She slowly lowered her left hand from her chest, where it'd been holding her shoulder, down towards Max. Her hand quickly found Max's, and she grapped it tightly.

"Angela, Max is strong. He'll make it." Genji eventually tried to comfort the distressed doctor.

"I know." Angela just responded, her voice sounding a Little bit less like it could break. But it was still very heavy, and full of sadness. She slightly squeezed Max's hand, and felt his pulse. Unlike his breaths, his pulse was thankfully stable and not sparatic.

"I think we should just leave her alone for a bit." McCree suggested, and almosy everyone nodded. They quite quickly made their way to the door, and went through it, leaving Angela alone.


	17. The Red Beach

**A/N:** **In the previous chapter, I saw some of you openly theorize about this story. And I wanted to say that I personally LOVE that. It's just so cool, seeing people getting so invested into the story, that they begin to theorize about it! But I also wanted to add something to it: Remember, for one of the members in Overwatch, their personality, their morals, their beliefs could all be a lie, a fabriaction, whose only purpose is to gain the trust of the other members in the organization.  
That's all for now, but a fair warning: The start of this chapter is a bit... unorthodox.**

* * *

Max slowly opened his eyes. At first, everything he saw was black. Thinking he didn't have his glasses on, he immediately got up, but once he did, he realized that wasn't the case.

He was on some sort of beach. The sky was completely black, like it normally was for him

But then he looked around, and once he did, it was the sand and water surprised him.

The sand was completely red, and it looked finer than the sand normally found on beaches. Max carefully tried to take a step, but it felt exactly like normal sand.

Next, he turned towards the water, which looked even stranger than the sand. For starters, it was completely purple, and Max could only see the surface of it. It also hit the beaches in waves, even though there wasn't any winds.

Done with examining his surroundings, Max suddenly felt a small pain in the back of his head. It wasn't very bad, but it was noticable.

As he was about to decide what to do next, a voice suddenly boomed over the entire beach.

"Why?" It simply said.

Confused, Max turned towards the source of the voice. However, all he saw was the vast purple ocean in front of him. No people.

"What?" Max asked confused.

"Why do we help the Heretic?" The voice boomed again, and again it came from the sea. There still wasn't anyone out on the sea, and now Max noticed something else about the voice. It was very smooth and persuasive, but there was a great deal of anger present also.

Max was about to ask who this 'Heretic' was, but before he could manage to do so, another voice boomed.

"Because it's the right thing to do." Another, calmer, voice answered.

When Max turned towards the second voice, all he saw was the red sand as far as the eye could see.

Max was about to ask again, but the first voice, the one from the sea, managed to beat him to it.

"Did the Heretic do the right thing?" It asked, in a mocking tone.

"Yes." The second voice immediately answered.

At this point, Max just ackowledged that it was the sea and land talking, since that was the most logical thing. But that didn't answer all the other questions. Where was he? How did he ge here? Who was this 'Heretic'?

Before Max had a chance to ask, the sea spoke again, still in a mocking tone.

"You say that with confidence, but do you not feel the doubt? Did you not feel the pain?" It asked, and this time, the land's answer came after a few seconds.

"Perhaps it created pain for us, but it healed the pain of so many more. It was the best thing to do." The land insisted.

As Max stood and listened to the, quite intriguing, conversation, he began to feel the pain at the back of his head increase.

"We have also healed the pain of many, yet did we cause such harm to others like the Heretic?" The sea asked, and Max's pain increased, as the waves became more and more impactful.

"Our help took longer to learn how to wield." The land argued, and Max's pain skyrocketed.

"You are admitting that we were developing? Growing? That the Heretic left us vulnerable?" "We didn't need..." "SHUT UP!" Max finally shouted, as the voices were unbearably loud, and his pain was at its peak.

In a split second, everything stopped. The voices dissapeared, and the waves became peaceful again. However, it didn't last long.

"You would let the Heretic run free?" The sea asked, but Max didn't know whether it was to him or the land. Instead of persausive, its tone was now cold.

"We are not judge, jury and executioners." The land argued back, and everything started over. The waves became more vioelent, and the pain returned.

"Stop, stop, STOP!" Max tried, as he fell to his knees, but no one listened.

"You would let the injustice done to us go free?!" The sea kept asking, as the rage in its voice became more and more present.

"There was no injustice done to us!" The land argued back. "There were only what was best for the most people!" It continued.

"BUT NOT FOR US!" The sea somehow shouted back, and one massive wave suddenly appeared on the horizon.

"Please... stop." Max pleaded, as he felt like he was going to die from the pain in his head.

"WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES WHO MATTER!" The land shouted back, as the giant wave came closer.

"YOU ARE JUST AS FULL OF HERESY AS THE HERETIC!" The sea continued its verbal war, and the wave was almost there.

"PERHAPS, BUT IF THAT MEANS I'M BETTER THAN YOU, THEN SO BE IT!" The land retorted, but now Max couldn't take anymore. With all his reamining energy, he put his hands over his ears, and closed his eyes tight. And just before the wave hit him, the dream ended.

* * *

Angela let out a loud sigh, as she sat and observed the equipment in the med-bay.

She was starting to feel the effects of four days filled with relentless work, and probably too little sleep. In the first day, she'd managed to make some progress, but after that, all she'd really done was standing and waiting for any sort of sign that Max was getting better.

And even though the scans showed her that his lungs had healed properly, and were now almost as good as new, she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Especially when his brain activity had remained at at constant low.

With a small noise, her head fell down on the table in front of her.

She immediately raised her head again, and felt a small pain in the spot she'd hit against the table.

" _Verdammter Schlaf._ " She mumbled to herself, before quickly stealing a glance of Max.

Since his lungs were functioning properly now, he didn't have the medical respirator on anymore. However, a few of his breaths were still a bit sparatic. His glasses were still lying on the table next to his bed, next to a vase with an Edelweiss.

Catching herself looking at Max for a bit too long, Angela quickly shook her head, before getting up.

With a long yawn and heavy steps, she started to move towards the door.

She briefly considered whether or not to get something to eat, or to just go straight to bed. On one hand, she was a little bit hungry, but on the other hand, she didn't really want to run into anyone, since they'd just ask whether or not she felt ok. Which she didn't.

 _Beep._

A sound suddenly came from the console.

With speed she didn't even know she had, Angela turned towards the console. However, she couldn't see what it was, so she moved closer.

As she walked past the unconcious Max, she thought she heard a low 'what?', but when she turned towards him, he was calmly lying as he did before.

"Perhaps I should just go straight to bed." Angela argued to herself. But first she had to check the console.

She quickly sat down, and looked at the console. At first, she thought she was seeing wrong due to her sleep, but after rubbing her eyes, she confirmed what she was seeing was correct.

Max's brain activity was normal again. Way over normal, in fact.

Angela briefly turned towards Max. And when she did, Max suddenly twitched. It was small, but she still saw it.

"What...?" Angela started. However, she was cut off, when Max's breath suddenly began to be quicker and quicker.

Fearing something was wrong with his lungs, Angela quickly checked the scans, but there was nothing wrong with them. It was all in his brain.

Now both confused and worried, Angela quickly said "Athena, get Winston and Torbjorn here!" as she knelt down next to Max.

"On it, dr. Ziegler." Athena calmly responded.

As Angela knelt down next to Max, he suddenly clenched both his hands incredibly tight, draining all the colour in them.

"Max?" Angela carefully asked, but there was no response. Gently, she tried to reach out towards him, but as she did, he suddenly mumbled "please." under his breath.

Slightly startled, Angela quickly retracted her hand. "Please what?" She asked, wanting to help in any way she possibly could.

"Stop." Max then said, through his quick breaths.

Not really knowing what to do, Angela was about to get up and get help, when Max suddenly opened his eyes and sat straight up.

Max's sudden move completely took Angela by surprise, and she instincetively moved a little back, as Max unexpectedly closed his eyes tight.

However, after a few seconds, his breathing became a little less unstable, and he slowly opened his eyes, but once he did, they began to frantically move around and his breathing became more violent again. He also began to move his head around.

"I... How... Who...?" He asked, through his breaths.

Angela suddenly realized that Max was slightly panicking over suddenly being disconnected from his glasses, and unexpectedly being completely blind again.

"Max, I'm here." She tried to reassure him, as she moved right next to his bed again.

"Angela?" Max asked out loud, as he tried to turn his head towards her, but unfortunetly failed,

"I'm here." Angela said in her most comforting voice possible, as she reached out towards Max. "I'm here, I'm here, I'm here." She repeated, each repeat getting quieter and softer than the previous, as she gently touched Max's cheek.

Max now succesfully turned towards her, and looked at her with his icy blue eyes, meanwhile his breath thankfully calmed down, and he put a hand on her wrist.

As Angela looked into Max's eyes, she realized that she'd missed looking into them.

"Angela?" Max eventually asked, shaking her out of her slight trance. "Yes?" She answered, still in her soft tone.

"Where am I?" He asked, and Angela suddenly remembered that he didn't remember anything.

"You can see for yourself." Angela responded, before slowly getting up and walking over the the bedside table. She quickly picked up the glasses, and put them in Max's hand.

He instantly knew what it was, once he touched the glasses, and he wasted no time putting them on, thus activating the infrasonic emitters. After a second, he breathed a sigh of relief as his world once again appeared before his eyes.

The two of them spent the next couple of seconds in silence, Angela letting Max calm down completely.

Eventually, she let out a low sigh, before admitting "I almost thought I'd lost you."

Max quickly turned his head towards her, and answered "But you didn't. Focus on that." in a voice that was surprisingly encouraging.

"You know what to say, as always." Angela said, before chuckling a little bit. However, before Max had a chance to response, the door to the med-bay opened and Torbjorn and Winston stepped inside.

"Athena said you asked for us. What's the... Max! Good to see you awake." Winston quickly changed, once he noticed the awoken Max. "How are you feeling?" He then asked.

Max chuckled a little, before turning away from the trio. "A little wierd." He admitted.

"Define 'wierd'." Torbjorn asked, as both him and Angela got a slightly worried expression on their faces.

"I don't really know how to describe it..." Max started, before extending his left arm in front of him. "My blood just feels kinda... coarse." He said.

"Oh that?" Angela responded. "I'm afraid that's side-effect of having the nanobots in your system. It will take a few days to get them out." She then explained.

"Nanobots?" Max then asked, before turning towards Angela with a small smile. "So you actually managed to put your theory into practice?" He asked.

"Oh right, I didn't tell you!" Angela said, as if she'd just remembered something important. She realized Max had no idea what she'd been doing during her time in Overwatch. "I'll tell you it all at some point, but for now: Yes, I made them work. Among another things." She then explained, and Max nodded before returning to his slightly exposed veins.

"How do you know about them?" Winston curiosly asked, and Max turned towards him.

"She hasn't told you?" He asked, while nodding at Angela.

"Apparently not." Torbjorn answered.

Max nodded, before explaining. "Angela has had the theory about injecting nanobots into people, to fix internal injuries since we went to school together." However, he quickly added "Well, I suppose it isn't really a theory anymore."

Both Winston and Torbjorn's expressions cleared up, as they both briefly turned towards Angela, who had a slightly red face.

"Well, while that's good to know, I'm more interested in something else. When do you think you'll be ready again?" Winston then said, as he turned towards Max again.

Max briefly got a thoughtful expression on his face, before answering "A few hours, I think."

"Mere hours?" Winston asked.

"Yeah, I feel ready enough." Max casually answered with a shrug. "However, if I'm correct, then Angela will want to make sure of that, before I do anything." Max then said, as he turned towards Angela.

"You're damn right, I want." Angela acknowledged, with a small shake of her head.

Max briefly smiled at her, before returning to the duo in front of the door. "Sounds good?" He asked.

"If you feel ready, and Angela's done all she can..." Winston answered, with a small nod in the direction of Angela. "... then I don't see any problems with it." He finished.

"Just, don't tire yourself." The gorilla added, before leaving the med-bay with Torbjorn, leaving Angela and Max alone.

The doctor quickly went over to the console, and started checking several things, Max couldn't see. But what he could see, was that she had an expression she usually had when she wanted to say something.

"What do you want to ask?" Max casually asked.

Angela considered for a second, whether to ask how he knew, but eventually decided against it. She closed the console, and turned towards him with a small sigh.

"Did you... dream? While you were comatosed?" Angela asked, seemingly not knowing exactly what words to use.

"I... suppose so. Why?" Max curiosly asked. This definetly wasn't the question he anticipated she'd ask him.

"It's just that..." Angela started but she trailed off into an uncomfortable silence for her.

Max quickly streched his legs, to make sure they were ok, before getting off the bed, and slowly walking over to Angela.

"Go on." He simply encouraged her, with a hand on her shoulder.

Angela took a deep breath, before turning towards Max, thus moving her shoulder out of his immediate reach. As she looked up at him, he put his hands behind his back.

"For just a couple of minutes ago, your brain activity was off the charts, and you were breathing heavily." Angela started. "I checked for anything in your body, but everything seemed fine. So it could've only been in your brain." She finished explaining.

"Yes, I dreamed... something." Max admitted, with a slightly heavy voice, which didn't exactly ease Angela's worries.

"Mind sharing?" Angela then asked.

Max was quiet, and looked away for a few seconds, before going back to hos bed. "No." He simply answered, as he sat back on it and looked back at Angela.

She leaned up against the console, as Max began to tell her everything. The red beach, the purple water, the voices and the pain in his head. Everything.

"There you have it." Max finished. "I don't know what any of it means, if it means anything, but that's it."

"Just out of curiosity, isn't interpreting dreams a part of psychology?" Angela quickly asked, and Max nodded.

"Oneirocriticism, yes." Max explained, before adding. "However, I'll admit, I always skipped those classes, to read or study mathematics instead. It just sounded more like gypsy magic than actual psychlogy, in my ears."

"Can't really blame you for that." Angela admitted.

The next few seconds were spent in silence, until Max asked "What do you make of it?"

"I don't really know..." Angela started. "I mean, it could be nothing. It could just be a nightmare."

"Perhaps." Max answered. "But I don't think normal nightmares have such severe effects on the body, as you described." He added, and Angela nodded. That was weird.

"Well, do you have any idea who this 'heretic' the... sea mentioned, is?" Angela eventually asked.

"I'm not certain, but I think I have an idea." Max answered.

"Who?" Angela inquired.

"I think it may be referring to my father." Max eventually answered, with a surprinsingly heavy voice.

"Your... father?" Angela curiosly asked, since it honestly surprised her. In all the time she'd known Max's parents, she'd thought they were both loving and caring for him, so how his father could be labeled a heretic was quite beyond her. "How does your farther fit into all of this?"

Max suddenly got a distressed look on his face for a little while, before he seemed to calm down, and answered "I promise, I'll tell you at some point in the future. But for now, I think it would be best if I returned to my work."

"Already?" Angela asked, worry clear in her voice.

"I feel fine, and you already said your scans showed nothing wrong with my body." Max casually explained, as he got down from the bed again.

Angela was about to retort, but she realized he told the truth, so she just asked "But... hasn't this scared you off?"

"If anything, quite the opposite." Max answered with an encouraging smile. "Now I have a personal stake in this. I do want some kind of justice, for what they did to me here. And it has also shown me just how much damage they can cause."

He was quiet for a few seconds, until he added "But don't worry. I'll call you if anything, anything at all, feels odd. I promise."

Angela reluctantly nodded, before admitting "Well, then I can't do much else here. Just... be careful."

"I will." Max answered, before slowly turning around.

Angela couldn't help but briefly smile, as she saw her friend already ready to help again, clearly with increased determination, but hopefully also with, at least a little bit, of extra care.


	18. What You Mean to Me

"So, how are you feeling?" McCree asked.

"Quite well, all things considered." Max answered. McCree had been on his way from the evening training, when he stumbled across Max, and the two decided to take a walk together.

"And if all things aren't considered?" McCree then asked, in his own way of worrying.

Max was briefly quiet, wondering how exactly he should answer. "Some of the nanobots are still in my system, and it's starting to feel a little annoying." He eventually answered.

"Hate to break it to ya' buddy, but if not for them, you might've been in a coffin by now." McCree casually answered.

"I am fully aware of that." Max said. There was a little bit of unintended hostility in his voice, but the recent near-death episode had become somewhat of a sensitive subject.

McCree simply chcukled a little bit, before moving on, thankfully understanding that that would be best.

"You know, 76 says those nanobots are starting to cause as much harm as they are helping." McCree unexpectedly told, before adding "But he'd never say that in front of you."

Max briefly got an expression of curiosity, before asking "How are they causing harm? And why would he never say that near me?"

"One question at a time buddy." McCree simply responded.

"Max." Max responded back, getting tired of being called 'buddy'.

"Right, Max." McCree said, before respeating "Well, one question at a time. Which one first?"

Max took a deep breath, and reminded himself that this was just how McCree was, before answering "Let's start with how he thinks they're causing harm."

"Good choice." The cowboy complimented, with a sly smile. "Well, he says, since they can pretty much fix any non-lethal wound, that we're getting sloppy, making more mistakes, becuase we think we can just fall back on them." He then explained, and Max nodded. Even though he wasn't exactly on good terms with 76, he understood his point of view.

"Well, can't you?" Max curiosly asked.

"Technically yes." McCree answered. As he was about to elaborate, the pair walked out on a balcony overlooking the sunset and its reflection in the water.

"However, as you now know, they aren't exactly the most comfortable thing to have swimming 'round in your body." The cowboy elaborated, as he leaned up against the railing.

"Isn't it possible to get used to that feeling?" Max then asked, and McCree lifted the tip of his hat slightly.

"I suppose." He eventually answered. "I just thankfully haven't had enough injuries to have that luxury. Also, doc says there isn't an unlimited amount of them, so we have only use them when we have to. Like with your lungs." He continued.

Max simply nodded, and when McCree figured he didn't have any immediate questions, he reached into his pockets and pulled out an oldfashioned cigar.

"I'd actually prefer it if you didn't." Max suddenly said, and McCree looked at him questioningly, as he pulled out lighter.

"Though my lungs are regenerated, I'm not sure if they're ready for smoke inhalation yet, and I don't want to take chances." Max further explained, and McCree nodded, as he packed hie lighter away.

"Gotcha." He reassured, before carelessly throwing his cigar out over the bacony, and down towards the water.

The two stood in silence for a few seconds, McCree mostly admiring the sunset, before Max asked "Wasn't there something else you promised to explain?" in a hinting tone.

"Oh right." McCree exclaimed, as he turned around so his back was against the sunset. "76's distrust towards you."

The cowboy was quiet for a little bit, before finally saying "Well, first off, I just want to say, I don't think it's personal."

"I think the same." Max acknowledged, as he turned towards the sunset.

McCree quickly sighed, before he started to explain. "He's always been a little... nervous, ever since he just showed up at our door, and wanted to join."

"I don't think it's just nervousness." Max argued, still with his gaze out towars the orange sun. "It seems more like full blown paranoia." He then said.

"Yeah, I will admit, he can be a bit much, sometimes." McCree admitted, with a more heavy voice than usual. "He just seems like a overprotecting parent sometimes. It's not just you, when Lucio showed up, it took a fair amount of arguing to convince the old man."

Silence once again fell over them, until Max asked an unexpected question.

"What's your realationship with him? Despite the critisism, you still seem to hold him in some sort of respect." He asked, as he turned hie head towards the cowboy.

"That's because I do." McCree answered steadfast, before turning towards the bleeding sun, like Max.

"You remember Deadlock and Blackwatch?" The cowboy suddenly asked, and Max nodded.

"The organizastions you were part off before Overwatch." The psychologist quickly answered.

"Yeah." McCree confirmed. "They taught me a lot of tricks, but without the old man, I don't think I'd know how to use them as effectively as I do."

"He trains you?" Max asked, and McCree nodded. "Just you or everyone?" He then asked, and this time, McCree was silent for a few seconds.

"I think he trains everyone, to some extent. He seems to have a lot of combat experience, but hell if I know where he got it from. It just seems like he's passing most of it down to me. Again, hell if I know why." McCree slowly explained, almost like he was exlpaining to himself as much as to Max.

The psychologist nodded, and the pair was once again engulfed in a silence, but this time it was more comfortable.

"But enough about me and the old man." McCree suddenly said out loud, before turning around. He walked over to a bench and sat down on it, as he looked at Max.

"I got a small question for ya'." He then elaborated, and Max nodded.

"Shoot." He responded, and McCree chuckled before lifting the tip of his hat.

"How is it to live like you do? With your glasses, I mean." The cowboy asked, a sudden seriouness suddenly present in his voice.

"It's... different." Max started, not complete sure of how to answer the question.

"Well, that I don't doubt." McCree commented, before Max continued.

"Its... a little harder, than with normal eyes, but I don't exactly have those." Max explained, and McCree nodded.

"Yeah, your disease." He said, before adding "My condolences."

"I managed to adapt a long time ago, but... thanks, regardless." Max said in a genuine voice.

The two stood in silence again, Max looking at McCree who'd pulled his hat down over his eyes. They stood like that, with the sunset in the background, for a few minutes, until they suddenly heard a sound.

They turned towards the source of the sound, only to see Angela walking past the entrance to the balcony.

"Hey doc." McCree casually called out to her.

Angela turned towards him with a smile, but as she was about to greet him back, she saw Max next to him. Max could read that a sudden sadness appeared under her smile, when she saw him, but he still gave her a smile, and a wave.

The swiss doctor simply waved back, before hastily walking off again. Max shook his head, before looking at McCree questioningly.

"Go on." The cowboy casually said, and Max sighed, before quickly walking in the same direcion as Angela.

Now alone, McCree followed Max's example and let out a sigh, as he looked in the direction of the two.

"You're one lucky pal, Max." He mumbled to himself, before finding a cigar in his pockets. He brought forth his lighter, but as he was about to light the cigar, another familiar face, or rather visor, appeared in the entrance.

"Am I interrupting?" Genji asked from the entrance.

"Nope, not at all." McCree casually answered, as he lit the cigar in his mouth, and quickly blew out a small cloud of smoke.

Genji walked over to the smoking cowboy, and sat down next to him. "Mind doing me a favor?" The cyborg ninja asked, with his gaze towards the sunset.

"Depends what it is." McCree answered, before shaking the ashes at the edge of his cigar off.

Genji reached into his pockets and pulled out a datapad, but McCree couldn't see what was written on it. "Just give this to Winston. I can't find him, and I don't really have much time left." He explained.

"Sounds simple enough, but what is it?" McCree asked, as he took the datapad.

"An explanation." Genji cryptically answered, before elaborating. "I'm going back to Hanamura to seek the help of an old aquiantance."

"Why?" The cowboy simply asked, before taking another puff of the cigar. He quickly blew out the smoke, which began to form around the ninja's head.

"Because of this." Genji explained. He quickly wiped the smoke away from his head, before pulling out the handle of his broken wakizashi.

"Right, Reaper." McCree just said.

Genji quickly packed it down again, as he explained. "I'm going to seek out the smith who created this weapon, and request a replacement."

"If he created that for you..." McCree began, as he pointed at where Genji'd packed the hilt down, with his cigar. "Doesn't that mean he should be in jail for working with a crime syndicate?"

"Mr. Katakore is more inventive than you might think. Besides, even if he is, no one makes swords like him. I have to try." Genji argued back.

"If you don't mind me asking, how are you going to get there?" McCree then asked, before adding "I don't think we can spare our only dropship."

Genji briefly chuckled, before explaining "True, I won't be using the dropship. I'll just say that commercial airlines don't have the best security against intruders in the baggage compartment. Especially against ninjas."

"Not just ninjas." McCree chuckled, before taking another puff.

He quicky blew out the smoke, before saying "Well, good luck pal."

"Thanks." Genji thanked, but as he got up, he added "I should be straightforward mission, but I'll call if anything happends."

"Good idea." McCree acknowledged, and the two nodded at each other, before Genji walked back into the base.

The lone cowboy kept smoking his cigar while admiring the sunset for another minute or two, until he admitted "Should probably try to find Winston now."

He slowly got up, and took one last puff of the cigar, before throwing it down towards the sea. He blew out his last cloud of smoke, before entering the base.

* * *

"Angela!" Max called out, as he followed her through the white corridors of the base.

The swiss doctor stopped dead in her tracks, and loudly sighed, before turning towards Max. "What can I do for you?" She asked, clearly trying to keep up a carefree facade.

Max quickly caught up with her, and stopped only a short meter away from her. "I believe I should be the one asking that question." He commented. Angela only sighed in response, allowing Max to take a good look at her.

The dark shadows under her eyes hadn't gone away, and her hair was ruffled and not properly cared for. Her stance was also not only a little tired, but also withdrawing and defensive, and she seemed to try and avoid eye contact.

Eventually, she took a deep breath, and answered "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

She briefly looked up at him, and Max was now the one to sigh. However, as Angela was about to leave, Max managed to grap her arm.

"Angela..." He simply said, before she turned towards him, seemingly giving up on the facade.

"You're tired, you're working constantly, and you've been avoiding me ever since I woke up. Why are you doing that to yourself?" Max sincerely asked.

Angela quickly looked to both sides of the corridor, before looking back at Max. She nodded in the direction of the personal rooms, and Max nodded back. With Max behind her, Angela began walking to her personal room in complete silence.

They quickly made it there, and once Max was inside, Angela turned around and closed the door before locking it.

"I..." Angela started, but she couldn't find the words. Instead, in a mix of frustration and tiredness, she rested her head against the closed door.

"I just..." She tried again, but again, her voice failed her. If Max had been conscious when Angela had seen him, he'd recognize that her voice was again at the brink of breaking. However, instead he slowly walked closer to her, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I asked for an explanation." Max started, and Angela looked up at him.

"But I'm in on rush to get it." He continued, before adding "Relax. Take your time, and just tell me when you know what to say."

Angela quickly let out a sigh of relief, before turning around. She began to walk over to the bed, with Max at her side. Once she reached it, she quickly sat down on it and Max followed suit next to her.

She began to take deep breaths, as she looked at Max. He was simply and patiently waiting for her to feel ready.

"Thanks." She eventually managed to say, and even though Max managed to keep his encouraging expression, a little bit of confusion appeared under it.

"Whatever for?" Max asked, and Angela briefly chuckled.

"For just... being here. For me. And everyone." She explained, and Max nodded.

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?" He retorically asked.

"A worse one than you are now, that's for certain." Angela responded, with a small smile. But her smile quickly dropped, when she added "Although I wouldn't have blamed you for it."

In response, Max sighed and looked away, as he folded his hands in front of him. After a few seconds, he looked back at Angela.

"I know we've been apart from for a lot of years now, but..." He started. "You used to be the bravest, strongest, and most innovative person I knew, and you still are! But what happened? What happened, to make you so nervous and distant? You've always been selfless, and I've always admired that about you, but this isn't just selflessness. What happened?"

At first, Angela didn't say anything. She just sat and looked at Max with disbelief in her eyes. Eventually, she realized he was right, and she looked down at the floor.

"I..." She started, but this time, she wouldn't let silence be the only thing Max heard.

"Do you remember why I was transferred to your school?" She eventually asked, and Max had to think about for a few seconds.

"It was because you didn't feel comfortable in your old school, right?" Max asked.

"That's one way to say it." Angela acknowledged, before elaborating. "I was orphaned in the crisis, and returning to school didn't bring anything but memories of everyone I'd lost. Eventually, I just couldn't take it, and I transferred."

"I see." Max said, before asking "But how does that relate to you here?"

Angela took a deep breath, before continuing. "You were... the first person I made such a strong bond with, since I lost my parents. I always felt welcome with you, and you felt like the closest person to me in the entire world. When we went our seperate ways, I felt fine, becuase I thought you were just studying psychology, a harmless subject."

She took a small break, before continuing. "When I saw you... in the med-bay, I briefly thought I'd lost you. And I'm not ready to loose someone so close to me again. I never will be."

Max now complete understood where she was coming from. He sat up, and turned towards her.

"And..." Angela continued, but silence once again fell over her.

Then, in a completely unexpected move, she suddenly hugged Max tightly, and pressed her head against his chest. At first surprised, Max quickly wrapped his arms around her.

"And I was thinking I was responsible!" She continued. "I'm the reason you're even here! If I'd never said anything, then you'd never been hurt! You would've never been in danger! I..."

"Angela?" Max calmly asked, interrupting her rant.

"What?" She asked, in a surprisingly low voice.

"I would never blame you for anything bad. Even if there was irrefutable evidence, I never would." He calmly said, before slowly pulling a littlw away. Angela looked up at him, and he looked back, with an encouraging smile, as he asked "Do you know why?"

Angela simply shook her head slightly, as she looked down again.

Wanting to look her in the eyes as he explained, Max gently put a hand under Angela's chin, and pushed it up, until she looked into his eyes again.

"Because, quite simply, you are the best thing to ever happend to me in my entire life. I may have gone to school to learn, but you were the reason I went to school with a smile, and I will never be able repay you for everything you've done for me."

Max took a short break, before continuing. "Angela, when I realized I had my disease, the first ting I thought off was what you would do. And it was exactly that thought that kept me going through the first, and most difficult, months of my blindness. But I managed. And I'll manage here. Do you know why?"

"Because you'll keep me in your thoughts?" Angela suggested, but Max gently shook his head.

"No." He softly answered. "I'll have you somewhere better than in my thoughts. My side. And because of that, I'll manage, like I've managed before. True, this task is more dangerous than any other I've undertaken, but I also have the best support I've ever had, to help me solve it. We'll make it through this. So. Don't. Worry."

Angela just looked at Max in silence. After a few seconds, her head landed on his chest again, as she mumbled "I'm the luckiest person in the world, to have a friend like you."

"I could say the exact same thing." Max simply responded.

The pair spendt a couple of minutes in silence, no one moving a muscle. Eventually, Angela slowly pulled back, and Max asked "Do you get it now?"

"Yes." Angela answered, in a much stronger voice. "I won't worry as much. But I can't stop entirely worrying."

"And you never should." Max responded, as he got up. "Becuase then you wouldn't be yourself." He said, with a smile. Angela smiled back, and Max slowly opened the door ans went out into the corridors.

As he began to walk back to his own room, past the windows that revealed a clear night sky, he felt the small patch of his shirt where Angela had rested her head was slightly wet.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this might spoil the mood slightly, but I have to ask. Do you guys want Genji's journey to be the next chapter, or shuld I just continue with the story in the base? The reason I'm asking this is because I had originally intended for something important to happend during his journey, but I ended up scrapping the idea. So if I write the chapter, I could still show some pretty cool things, in my opinion, and it might be a nice change of pace, but on the other hand, it doesn't really further Genji or the story's development, so it would just be a sort of padding. Ultimately, I want to hear what you think about it, and then I'll make the decision. Thanks for continuing to follow the story, and until next time.**


	19. The Smith and the Sparrow

**A/N: Last chapter, I asked whether you wanted to see Genji's journey to find the smith who made his sword. The answer was a resounding yes. So here it is. Enjoy.**

* * *

The scorching sun shined down upon the empty streets of Hanamura. It was a 1:12 PM, and no one dared to venture out into the heat, normal for the area.

In a single alley, a bar on the left side was almost empty. Its only occupants being two muscular men, two customers and a bartender.

The bar was silent, no one saying a word. The bartender simply stood and polished a glass, whil customers were enjoying their drinks.

However, the silence was broken, when the entrance suddenly opened, and everyone looked towards it.

In the entrance stood a stranger. The entirety of his body was covered by a black cloak. The stranger had the body of a man, but everything else was a mystery.

Knowing everyone's eyes were on him, the stranger slowly walked into the bar, scanning the area as he did so. There were four tables in the establishment, only one of them occupied by the customers, and besides the bar, a wooden pillar in the middle of everything was the only thing that looked clean.

The stranger continued to walk towards the bar, every step against the tatami-covered floor making a metallic sound.

Eventually, the stranger reached the bar, and sat on one of the chairs in front of it.

Not really sure what to make of the stranger, the bartender, a short middleaged man, just walked over, and asked "And what can I get you?"

"Just some green tea." The stranger answered, his voice having a similar metallic sound to it.

The bartender simply shrugged, before walking over to the other side of the bar. After a few minutes, he came back with a cup of hot green tea, and placed it in front of the stranger.

However, as he was about to walk away, the stranger said "I hear you also sell... other things."

The bartender looked back at him, and the stranger elaborated "Information, specifically." without turning his head one bit.

The bartender put down the glass, and went over to the cash register right next to the stranger. He began to pretend checking it, as he mumbled "Depends on what you're looking for."

"I'm looking for someone." The stranger answered.

"That's not what we're offering." The bartender answered, but that didn't seem like the answer the stranger was looking for.

"Perhaps you should rethink your business model then." The stranger said, as he put his arms up on the counter, revealing they were either armored or cybernetic.

The bartender stopped checking the cash register, and went over to the stranger. He bent down right next to his ear, and whispered "I said, we're not selling that sort of information."

"Surely you know where Harada Katakore is?" The stranger whispered back, and all the colour in the bartenders face immediately drained.

"Get out." He said in a normal volume, as he raised himself up.

"I'm not leaving without Katakore's whereabout's." The stranger insisted.

The bartender sighed and said "If you're going to be like that... Itami! Iwaki!" and the two muscular men in the corner began to walk towards the stranger.

"If you don't get out, I'll have Itami and Iwaki turn whatever you are into mince meat." The bartender threatend.

The stranger remained silent, and Itami and Iwaki managed to make it all the way up to him. One of them tried to grap his shoulder, but the stranger immediately shook it away, revealing his entire arm was cybernetic.

"That... was a very. Bad. Idea." The stranger said, before looking up at the bartender, who stared straight back into a green visor.

In just one second, Genji managed to detach his cloak, throw it in the face in one of the muscular men, before grapping his tea and pouring in the face of the other.

"AARGH!" The man shouted, as the scorching hot liquid hit his face. With both men briefly dazed, Genji quickly jumped behind the one with the tea, before swiping his feet away under him.

Once he hit the floor, Genji swiftly hit him with a powerful punch to the face, knocking him uncounciouss and likely breaking his nose.

The other man finally managed to get the confusing cloak off his face. "ITAMI!" He shouted, when he saw his friend lying uncounciouss on the ground.

He then looked up, and saw Genji in a battle position, ready for anything.

"What the hell are you?" Iwaki asked both confused, but probably also mockingly.

"What I am is none of your concern." Genji answered, with peace in his voice. "All you need to know is that I'm just looking for an old aquintance, and you're simply making this harder on yourself."

"Like hell you are." The bartender suddenly said, before suddeny pulling up a phone. However, before he could manage to call anyone, it was suddenly forced out of his hand.

When he looked behind him, he could see his phone pinned against the wall by a shuriken, and when he turned towards Genji, he could see two more in his hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Genji simply said.

The bartender simply looked at him in disbelief, and Genji turned his head towards Iwaki, only to see a fist come flying his way.

Genji easily ducked under it, before grapping the wrist, and breaking the man's arm over his shoulder.

With a cry of pain, the man furiosly lashed out at Genji with his working arm, but the cyborg ninja was still too quick. He quickly took a few steps back, making Iwaki hit nothing but air, before charging back towards him.

Once the man was with in his reach, Genji grapped the working wrist and arm, and used the momentum from his missed punch, to guide his trajectory.

With a loud noise, Genji managed to half throw, half push him into the wooden pillar in the center, breaking it at the middle, and knocking the last of the two men uncounciouss.

The cyborg briefly stood and admired his work, before turning back towards the bartender. With slow steps and an agressive body stance, he began to walk towards the bartender, while reloading his shurikens.

"Where is he?" Genji insisted, as he got ever closer.

"Like hell I'm gunna tell you! You're DEAD!" The bartender refused, even though he was slowly walking backwards.

Genji's patience was at an end, and he quickly jumped over the counter before grapping the bartender by his jackets collars. He raised him off his feet, and knocked him against the shelfs where all the bottles stood, knocking a few over.

"Speak. Now." Genji tried, as he pushed his shuriken up under the bartenders chin.

"You're... dead, you know? My boss... is gunna kill you... for this." The bartender continued to defy.

"I'm not the only one he's going to kill though." Genji responded, and the bartender looked at him with confusion and fear.

"What...?" He tried, but his words failed him.

"He's going to kill you too, for letting such a thing even happen." Genji explained. "And do you know why?"

The bartender frantically shook his head, and Genji leaned in close to whisper "You're expendable."

Genji pulled back, before elaborating. "You're just another expendable grunt, that'll be replaced as soon as you can't do your job. You're just as disposable and replacable as the wooden pillar."

The cyborg ninja was briefly pulled back, before continuing. "Your best shot is to get away, and actually do something productive with your life. And I'll let you do that. But only if you answer my question."

Genji leaned in close again, only centimeters between the bartender's face and Genji's visor, but with normal volume, the cyborg ninja asked "Where. Is. Harada. Katakore?"

The bartender looked at him for a few seconds, before finally saying "O-Okay, you win."

Genji immediately dropped him, and he fell on his knees and hands as he breathed heavily.

"Where?" Genji asked, in a hostile voice.

"... Goddammit. A little mountain village, up along the road. Can't miss it." The bartender finally let out.

"Thanks." Genji sincerely thanked, before walking towards the entrance. However, before he stepped outside, he turned back around towards the bartender, who was now standing on his feet.

"Oh, one more thing." Genji said, as he quickly tossed the bartender something.

Confused, the bartender looked in his hands, and saw that it was a couple of yen, the exact payment for the green tea.

The bartender looked up towards the entrance, but it was open and empty. He immediately ran out into the alley, but Genji was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

As Genji made his way up the steep road along the side of the mountain, he silently thanked his suit for protecting him against the baking sun better than normal skin.

He'd thankfully managed to catch a ride on the roof of a train, and within a few hours, he'd found himself at the foot of the mountain.

Now, after 2 hours of climbing up, as well as the occational conceal from unexpected hikers, he could finally see a small village begin to appear behind the rocks.

Genji climbed up the final steps, and now found himself at the outskirts of an old fashioned village, with several old buildings sitting around a center square. Genji quickly jumped on top of the roof of a nearby building and scouted the surroundings.

Apart from the buildings around the square, there were two streets running behind it, and next to the entire village was a stone wall with a waterfall.

Genji briefly considered how he could best locate Katakore's home among all the other buildings. However, he wouldn't need to wonder long, since while he was thinking, the man himself appeared in the center square.

Genji quickly decided that he should probably wait until Katakore was alone, otherwise he might attract the two of them too much attention.

Katakore briefly looked around the square, before he began to hastily walk towards the right street, with Genji stealthily following on the rooftops.

The cyborg ninja easily followed the man through the street, until they reached the house furthest away.

Katakore quickly unlocked the door, and stepped inside. Genji quickly jumped over to the roof of the house, and found a small trapdoor on the roof. Likely an escape route.

Genji opened the trapdoor, and walked down the stairs, into the small but rather comfortable, house.

Still enveloped in the house's natural shadows, Genji quickly found Katakore. He was in the open kitchen, right next to a dining table, probably preparing dinner.

Genji silently jumped down on the same level as Katakore, and with a safe distance between them, carefully said "Mr. Katakore?"

The man immediately turned around with a knife in his hand, and once he saw Genji, his eyes widend in fear. "Oh god, it's you!" He stuttered, fear clearly in his voice.

Genji just looked at him confused, and Katakore continued, with his knife pointed at the calm Genji. "So, over 20 years? That's how long it took you to track me down? And now you're going to finish the job?" He frightfully asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Genji asked slightly confused, but also weary since Katakore, despite being a small thin man, was quite formidable with swords.

"Your... complete annihalation of the Shimada crime sydicate. You just need me, then you're done! At least know that I didn't enjoy working for them one bit!" Katakore answered, his knife pointing accusingly at Genji.

"Oh..." Genji said. It felt like a lifetime, since he'd taken down his family's crime empire, so it'd just slipped out of his memory.

"Mr. Katakore, I assure you, I mean you no harm." Genji tried, but the man didn't seem convinced at all.

"You're just trying to get on my good side. I won't fall for that!" He resisted.

"Sir, whether you believe it or not, I've come here to ask for your help." Genji tried, and Katakore's expression changed from fear to confusion.

"What would I ever help you?" He asked, though his grip around the knife lossend a little.

"For old time's sake?" Genji tried, but before Katakore could manage to ask any questions, the ninja reached up towards his visor. With a small release of steam, he removed his face mask, letting Katakore briefly see who he was.

"Genji Shimada?" Katakore asked, and Genji nodded, once he'd put the visor back on.

"Well, I'll be damned." Katakore admitted, as he put the knife down behind him. The two stood in silence for a few seconds, until Katakore aksed "Last I heard, your brother had killed you. I take it that wasn't the case?"

"It wasn't for lack of trying." Genji responded in an incredibly casual tone, whitch surprised Katakore a little bit.

"Well, it's good to see you again, but... what happend to you?" Katakore asked, and Genji realized the long tale he'd have to tell.

"It's a... rather long story." Genji admitted.

"I'm in no rush." Katakore responded, before hr turned towards the living area of the house. "Come and sit." He offered, and Genji respectfully nodded before going over to the coutch and sitting down on it, meanwhile Katakore sat down in a chair.

"So, your brother tried to kill you but you survived. Then what?" Katakore asked, and Genji took in a deep breath, before he started.

"Well, I wouldn't have survived, if it wasn't for Overwatch..." Genji started.

* * *

"... and once the recall reached me, I decided to join once again." Genji finished his tale, and Katakore nodded.

"Well, you've certainly been active. Blackwatch, Shambali and now Overwatch?" Katakore asked, with the evening sun bathing the room in an orange light behind him.

"It's... pretty unbelievable, I will admit." Genji admitted, and even though Katakore couldn't see it, Genji smiled under his mask.

"Well, I'm just glad it's one of my only friends from that cursed syndicate that survived." Katakore admitted. The two sat in a comfortable silence for a couple of minutes, until the retired swordsmith asked a question.

"But enough about that. You said you came to me for help. Well, how can I help you, old friend?" He asked, with a sincere smile and a welcoming tone.

"I went on a mission recently..." Genji started, as he reached into his pockets. "And even though we were victorious, it came at a price." He said, as he pulled out the broken handle of his wakizashi. He handed it to Katakore, who carefully held it, like it could break at any moment.

"I... remember this blade..." Katakore said thoughtfully. "The Bringer of Silence. Yes, the engraving's still here." He said, as he examined the intact handle.

"Who, or what, did this?" He eventually asked, as he looked up at Genji.

"We only know him as Reaper, and as for how he did it..." Genji said, but he fell into a brief silence. "He just... grapped it, and shattered it." He eventually said.

Katakore was silent for a little while, until he asked "And you want me to craft you a new one?"

"Correct." Genji acknowledged.

Katakore slowly put the handle on the table, before he looked at Genji and remarked "I will do it, but if you don't mind me saying, you seem very urgent about this."

Genji was silent, for a little while, until he finally spoke. "We recently aquired the information that one of us is a... traitor, working with the same organization as Reaper." He explained, and Katakore got a worried expression on his face.

"Traitors..." He mumbled to himself. "Effective, but honorless."

The two now sat in a silence again, but this one was more uncomfortable than the last. So, to lightend to mood, Genji curiosly asked "But, how are you going to make it, without all of your old equipment."

In response, Karakore simply smiled, and got up from his chair. With a small wave of the hand, he encouraged Genji to do the same, and the cyborg ninja abliged. they went over to a nearby window, that overlooked the side of the mountain, and stood and admired it for a few seconds.

"You see that cave?" Katakore eventually asked, as he pointed towards a small cave up the side of the mountain.

"Yes." Genji confirmed, and Katakore put down his hand.

"That's not empty." Katakore said, with a sly smile.

"A workplace?" Genji asked.

"As well as a hiding place, with all sorts of defenses and supplies." Katakore said, still with his sly smile.

"I see age hasn't impeded you in the slighest." Genji remarked, as they went back to the living room.

"Oh it has. I'm just giving anyone the pleasure of seeing it." Katakore said back, and the two laughed together for a good while.

Once a comfortable silence had set itself in the room, Katakore turned towards Genji, and asked "So, when will you be leaving?"

"I'm afraid it'll have to be as soon as possible. I am still part of a vigilante organization, and that's not something you walk away from." Genji answered, and felt a little bit of guilt, when he saw Katakore's expression grow a little dissapointed.

"At least it was your choice." Katakore commented, and Genji realized just how much hate he harbored for the Shimada Crime Syndicate. But then again, it wasn't very surprising, since they'd pretty much blackmailed him into working with them.

"I'll make it up to you some day." Genji said with determination.

"Don't. You've already paid enough for your family's sins." Katakore reassured him, and some of the dissapointment was thankfully gone from his expression.

Genji nodded, before suddenly putting a datapad on Katakore's desk. "The address for my... workplace." Genji explained, and Katakore nodded.

The two of them got up, and hugged each other, before Katakore said "Fly safely... Sparrow."

Genji briefly laughed over Katakore being able to remember his old nickname. After some more farewells, Genji went over to the door, but as he opened it, Katakore suddenly called out for him.

Genji turned towards him, and the swordsmith said "This 'Reaper'... whoever he is, he's not going to be able to break it so easily next time. I'll make sure of that."

Not really knowing what he meant by that, Genji simply nodded, before going out, and closing the door behind him.


	20. Warm Hearts

**A/N: When I fleshed out the backstories of the characters in this story, I added some pretty important details to Mei's awakening from cryo-sleep, to make her story and interactions with Max more interesting. But you all probably guessed what happened. The developers went along, and made the short 'Rise and Shine'. And don't get me wrong, while I still think 'The Last Bastion' is the best one, this one was also really good, but it completely ruined Mei's character in this story. And that's why I'm now pushing this story into AU territory, and devoting most of this chapter to explaining my version of Mei's backstory, while also furthering her character in the present. Enjoy!**

* * *

The sound of metallic footsteps echoed through the dimly lit halls of the abandoned Overwatch facility. Almost in sync with the flickering of what little light there were, the footsteps came closer and closer to a door.

The door eventually opened, revealing a rather large dark room, with several tables scattered around, and consoles up along the back wall.

"Let's try in here." A male voice said with a japanese accent said.

"'Kay." A feminine voice with a british accent replied, in a very bored tone.

Genji and Lena walked into the room, examining everything on their way, but finding nothing of interest. Eventually, they split up and kept searching the room, but their labor was still fruitless.

"Urgh!" Lena eventually exclaimed, as she sat down on one of the tables.

"Frustration?" Genji asked, as he jumped over to the table opposite of Lena, and sat down on it.

"That, and boredom." Lena acknowledged, as she rested her head in the palm of her hand. Genji was briefly silent, so Lena decided to continue on.

"I mean, we're Overwatch! We're supposed to fight bad guys, make breakthroughs and help people, not scurry around old abandones facilities, like rats in the sewer." Lena explained, her frustration clear in her voice.

"Lena..." Genji calmly tried. "The recall only went out 2 months ago, and apart from us, only dr. Ziegler and Reinhardt have shown up. We're just not ready to do anything grand yet. We need to get whatever resources we can, and like it or not, these old facilities could house things of great use to us." He explained.

Lena let out a loud sigh, before admitting "Yeah, I get ya. This just isn't what I imagined, when I returned."

"I get that." Genji comforted her, with a sincere voice. The two sat in silence for a while, until Genji remembered why they were even here.

"How about we continue, so we can get back quicker." He asked.

"That does sound preferable." Lena admitted, before jumping off the table.

"And don't worry." Genji said, and Lena turned towards him, slightly confused. "I'm sure we'll get some excitement in the future." He said, and Lena smiled back at him.

"Yeah, you're right." She said, before asking "Can you check that console over there?" as she pointed towards the back wall.

"Sure." The cyborg ninja casually answered, before almost making it all the way over there in one jump.

"Showoff." Lena mumbled, before returning to searching the various tables and datapads scattered around.

Genji sat down in front of the console, and somehow manage to start it. After entering with the access codes Winston had given them at the start of the mission, Genji was greeted by a surprisingly large amount of information and data.

"What is this?" Genji rhetorically asked, as he began to search through the data.

"Lena?" Genji called out, and the young brit immediately blinked up right next to him.

"Yeah?" She curiosly asked, as she looked at the screen, but couldn't really make out a lot of the things written on the screen.

"All of this seems to be labled under something called 'The Ecopoint Initiative'. Do you know what that is?" Genji asked, though without removing his gaze from the screen.

"I'm not sure..." Lena started, as she got a thoughtful expression on her face. "I think it had something to do with the climate, but what exactly, I can't remember."

"Well, that..." Genji started, but he suddenly silenced himself, when he saw a button on the console, that was labled 'Show Global Map'. Curious, Genji pressed the button, only to have the lights dim in the entire room, and some started to glow orange behind him.

"Whoa..." He heard Lena say, and Genji quickly turned himself around. When he did, he saw a massive orange hologram of the earth, similar to the one in Watchpoint: Gibraltar, floating in the middle of the room. However, unlike the one at Watchpoint: Gibralter, this one was covered by a web of red lines, that connected at several points around the globe, all glowing red.

"I'm guessing that's the Ecopoints." Genji said, as he got out of the chair, and walked closer.

"But they're all red." Lena said, as she joined Genji.

"They must all be out of service." The cyborg ninja guessed, before stopping at the railing, only a few meters away from the globe.

"Perhaps not all." Lena said, and Genji looked at her, confused. The young brit pointed towards the top of the globe, and Genji followed her, until he saw it. A single base on Antarctica, though also red, was beeping.

Genji looked at it for a few seconds, before walking back to the console. After a little bit of searching, he found an unread message from Ecopoint: Antarctica.

"Here we go." Genji said, as he opened the message. The globe immediately vanished, and a holographic screen now appeared in the middle of the room. After some flickering, which allowed Genji to get back at he railing, the message began.

A rather young woman of asian descent appeared in front of them, and both Genji and Lena listened careully. "We're still in the middle of this massive icestorm..." She said, after putting on her glasses.

"It's crazy. We missed our recent supply window, and we're low on rations. So... captain Opara is having the team... hypernate." She said the last word, with a fair amount of disbelief, but still keeping up her smile.

"Hypernate? What does she mean by that?" Lena asked, and even though the message continued, the pair didn't really focus on it anymore.

"Some sort of prolonged sleep." Genji started. "Perhaps cryo-sleep, but I'm not certain."

"But..." Lena started, and Genji looked at her.

"What are you thinking?" Genji asked, as Lena had gotten a worried expression on her face.

"Just... that was the last message the base sent, right?" Lena started, and Genji nodded as he got a feeling for where she was going.

"Do you think they're... still asleep? Just, lying dormant up there, since this base was shut down?" Lena asked, and Genji thought about it for a second.

"I... suppose there could be survivors. But they could also all be dead. You heard her, their supplies were gone." Genji said.

"I know, but... isn't this what Overwatch does? Saving people?" Lena asked.

"You're right." Genji admitted. The cyborg ninja briefly looked up at the screen, where another person had appeared behind the woman, before quickly getting back over to the console. He downloaded all the info about 'The Ecopoint Initiative', before he and Lena quickly dashed back towards the others.

* * *

Mei slowly made her way through the corridors, nervously looking around at every step, until she reached her destination.

The door to Max's room suddenly appeared bigger and more imposing, but she didn't let that deter her.

She took a deep breath, and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing Max.

"Oh, hi Mei. What can I do for you?" He asked, as he stepped to the side, letting her into his room.

"I've just been thinking, and... what's that?" Mei suddenly interrupted herself, when she saw a case with a ring on Max's desk.

"Oh this?" Max asked, before going over to it, and picking it up. When he did, Mei could clearly see that it was a silverish ring with a green emerald at the top.

"This is my grandfather's ring. I got it from my mother after he passed, and it's just something I've been too sentimental to throw away." Max casually explained, before unexpectedly handing it to Mei.

"Try reading the inscription." He encouraged, and Mei, though a little confused, still did so.

After a little bit of searching, she found three words in the ring: _Nullius in verba_.

"Nullius in verba? What does that mean?" Mei asked, as she handed the ring back.

"It's latin for 'Take nobody's word for it', or a more indirect translation could be 'See for yourself'." Max explained. "It's one of the core principles of science, and my grandfather was a scientist through and through." Max then said, and Mei nodded.

Max quickly put the ring in the case, before turning back towards Mei.

"However, I'm assuming you didn't come here to discuss my familiy history, correct?" He said, as he sat down in one of the two chairs on front of the desk.

"Was I that easy to see through?" Mei asked, and even though it was with a smile, Max could clearly hear the discouragement behind it.

"Not more an any other person I've met." Max casually reassured her. Mei quickly nodded, before sitting down in the second of the two chairs.

"So... what did bring you here?" Max asked, as he crossed his legs and thoroughly looked at Mei, through his glasses.

"Do you remember the last time we were sitting like this?" Mei asked, and Max nodded, without taking his eyes off her. "You promised me... help. With my grief." She clarified, and even though he didn't really need any clarification, Max nodded anyways.

"Well, I've been thinking. And I... think I'm ready to take another step." She said, somehow with both doubt and determination in her voice.

At first, Max didn't say anything. He simply sat, and looked at her, for a few seconds, until he leaned slightly forward, and said "That's incredibly brave of you. I'm proud." in an ever so slightly low voice.

"Brave? Why?" Mei asked, clearly confused.

"It was only a couple of days ago I revealed my evaluation to you." Max began, while he leaned back in his chair. "And yet, you're already ready to, as you said yourself, take another step. Even though every grief is different, they usually take longer than this to process. You're quite strong."

"I... thanks." Mei simply said, a little bit overwhelmed over the praise she got from something she hadn't thought much about herself.

Max simply chuckled, before asking "Well, I've been reading a bit about everyone in here. You're no execption. And from what I've read, it's pretty safe to assume the grief you're dealing with comes from Ecopoint: Antarctica. Do you agree?"

Mei simply nodded.

"Would you do me the favor of telling me about it?" Max asked, and a little bit of confusion appeared on Mei's face. "The last days, and the people there." Max clarified, and Mei nodded, before taking a deep breath.

"Well, we were a team of six people, including me." Mei slowly started. "We were sent there to monitor the climate, and help with coming up for a solution to global warming. That was my job, mainly. Well, me, dr. Adams and dr. Arrhenius. I always enjoyed working with them." She told, followed by a short break.

"What were they like?" Max sincerely asked.

"Arrhenius was a bit of a loud guy, but he likely the smartest of our little group. He also knew how to operate all the machinery, and he was always fun to hang around after work. Adams, he was... almost the polar opposite of Arrhenius. He was very quiet, and we always had to encourage him to hang out with the rest of us. But he whenever he was in his element, he was unstoppable. If we hadn't looked after him, he might've worked himself to death." Mei told, as she smiled, when he remembered the good times she'd had, when she worked there.

"That's good." Max said, and Mei gave him the all too familiar confused expression. "You're smiling. Keep those emotions, and remember them." Max encouraged her, and she nodded.

Max briefly smiled, before asking "And what about the remaining three?"

"Oh yeah." Mei exclaimed, as she remembered she wasn't done. "Then there was MacReady. He was our main engineer, and he had the body to prove that. He was also usually the only one who could talk Adams into leaving the lab, but he was definetly also the heavy drinker of the group. I remember one night, he somehow managed to drink 4 beers, and then still stand."

Mei was briefly quiet, before continuing. "Finally, there were Opara and Torres. They were responsible for all the cryogentics research, and the cryo-pods were actually Torres' invention. Opara was the team-leader, so he spent a lot of time with everyone, just chatting or figuring out how to run the place. I didn't really see much of Torres, but from what I saw, I think he was incredibly charismatic and intelligent."

"Those were the people you spent... how long was it, again?" Max asked.

"A few months. And yes, those were the people I spent them with." Mei confirmed.

Max nodded, and briefly looked like he was thinking about what to say next, but he quickly figured it out. "And, if you're comfortable sharing, what lead to you using the cryo-pods?"

Mei was quiet and looked down at the floor, but Max didn't say anything. He simply gave her however much time she needed to be ready.

Eventually, she sighed, and looked back up at Max. "It all started a few days before we went inside the pods. We were suddenly hit by a massive snow-storm, that blocked our communication with the rest of Overwatch." She started.

"Isolation." Max simply mumbled to himself, as Mei continued.

"We thought it would be over after a few days, but it just kept going and going. Eventually, we realized that our supplies wouldn't last long enough, so Opara and Torres began to prepare the pods. After a few days of preparation, they said they were ready, and we entered them." Mei finished.

Max was once again quiet for a little while, before asking "What was the last things you said to them?" in an incredibly careful and caring voice.

"I'll see you again later." Mei answered, as her voice sounded like it was getting more fragile.

She closed her eyes tight and folded her hands in front of her, but when she did, she felt something on her shoulder. She slowly opened her eyes, only to see Max, with a hand on her shoulder, and an encouraging smile on his face.

"Take your time." He said, before leaning back in his chair.

After a few minutes of silence, Mei finally looked back up at Max, and said "I'm good."

"Good." Max simply responded, before asking "One last thing. How was your... awakening from cryo-sleep? What did you see and feel?"

Mei briefly tried to remember exactly how it was, before she started telling. "Well, at first all I saw was..."

* * *

White.

As Mei began to return to consciousness, the sound of steam being released reached her ears.

She slowly opened her eyes, but everything she could see was a blurry mess of blue, grey, green and white.

"Urgh..." Mei exclaimed, as she tried to get out of the cryo-pod. However, when she did so, her body only somewhat obeyed her commands, and if it wasn't for someone in front of her, she would've fallen flat on her face.

Softly, the hands guided her downwards, until she felt the cold metal floor, under her feet.

Slowly but surely, her vision started to work somewhat properly, and she soon found herself in front of some sort of visor.

At first a little startled, Mei took a step back but due to her body's disobedience, she fell behind, and landed on the floor.

"Opara...?" Mei tried, her voice very tired and raspy, to a point it almost hurt to talk.

However, no one answered her, and Mei tried slowly rubbing her eyes.

"Professor Zhou?" A voice suddenly asked, and even though it was slightly familiar to her, Mei couldn't quite make out who it was.

"Who... who's there?" Mei tried, as she once again opened her eyes, only to see the face of a young woman with black hair.

"The name's Lena." The woman answered, and even though her voice was energetic, her eyes were equally filled with worry. "How are you feeling?" The woman asked, with the same worry in her voice.

"I..." Mei started, but her voice failed her.

"We should get her on the ship as soon as possible!" A male voice with a german accent behind Lena suddenly said. "Who knows what she's feeling after that!" It continued.

Lena briefly stepped aside to see, letting Mei see a large man in rubust armor. "I get that, but we should take it slowly." Another voice said, and when Mei turned towards that, she saw a large gorilla in white armor.

"Winston..." The guy with the visor said, as he also turned towards the gorilla named Winston. "I felt inside that pod. It's almost colder than outside, and aside from hyperthermia, who knows how her body's affected by the lack of food and water." He implored.

"... Fine." Winston finally agreed. "Genji, can you help Lena carry her?" He then asked, and the guy with the visor nodded, before walking over to Lena.

They each put one of Mei's arms over their shoulders, but as they were about to walk away, Mei said "Wait..."

The entire team stopped and turned towards her. "The... others..." She said, but all it resulted in, was worried looks being exchanged between the members of her rescue team.

"We'll tell you everything, you have my word on that." Winston said. "But right now, our top priority is your well-being."

Even though Mei wanted to object, and get back to the others, she didn't have any energy left in her, and she simply hung her head in defeat, as the team carried her away.

* * *

"And then, once we got back, and I'd gotten better, they... told me the rest." Mei finished her tale.

Max simply looked at her for a few seconds, with an expression Mei couldn't figure out. Eventually, he quickly grapped a pen, and wrote something on hie notepad.

After he was done, he turned towards Mei, and looked at her for a few seconds, before saying "Thank you."

"What for?" Mei asked.

"For being willing to share, and letting me help. For your sake, I think it's best if we end it here. However, I would like a few days to think about this, before you come again." Max said, and Mei nodded, before getting up from her chair.

"And thanks for being willing to help." Mei said, before opening the door.

"It's my pleasure." Max simply responded with a smile, before Mei went out the door and closed it.


	21. New Enemies and Old Friends

**A/N: This bit doesn't really have anything to do with this chapter, but rather this story as a whole. You see, after a bit of chatting with a user named ThatGreenDooredBookshop, we've decided that he will be a beta-reader for this story. While this doesn't have an immediate effect the story, some chapters may take a bit longer to get done than normal, simply due to the fact that there are now more steps in the process of making a chapter, but rest assured that it is only done to give you the best possible product! As for this chapter, well... let's just say that it has a pretty big effect on the rest of the story moving forward. Enjoy!**

* * *

A small knock on the door broke Reaper's concentration, and in frustration he yelled "What?"

The door opened shortly there after, revealing a rather ordinary foot-soldier in a training attire. However, the figure didn't say anything, it just stood there, silently.

"Did you come here just to test my patience, or is there an actual reason for you to show yourself here?" Reaper asked, as he got up from his chair, and walked closer to the foot-soldier, who he could now see was a woman that had two braids of long white hair.

"E-er... I... w-was sent..." The foot-soldier started, but her words fled her mouth, like she wanted to flee Reaper's presence.

"Is this organisation filled with nothing but stuttering braindead morons?" Reaper asked in a mocking tone, as he walked closer to the foot-soldier, until he was only a single meter away.

"Speak!" Reaper then ordered, and the operative finally started talking.

"I-I was sent here b-by Command. T-they re-request your presence at once." The foot-soldier said, before just standing there.

"Then get out of my way!" Reaper said, before grapping her by the throat and shoving her to the side. As he walked towards the communcations room, the foot-soldier almost ran the opposite way, trying to get as far away as possible from the mercenary who mercylessly disposed of any allies he found useless.

As Reaper walked through the black corridors, he was thankful that he didn't need to suffer in the presence of Talon operatives more than he needed.

To get to the communcations room, the mercenary had to walk through the dining area, where he could hear several conversations being held.

Without hesitating, he opened the door and stepped inside the room, where all the talk immediately died down, once they saw who it was that had entered.

Reaper unwaveringly made his way through the dining area, while looking around at everyone seeted. Most of them were minding their own business, but the few that looked at him was met by a cold, yet menacing stare.

Finally, he reached the exit and went through. As soon as the door closed behind him, he could hear the banter slowly starting again.

After a short minute with no further disturbances, Reaper finally made it to the communications room. Inside, he saw only one communications officer.

"Command's ready. Just activate it once you are." The officer said.

"I already know how this works." Reaper said, before turning his head towards the officer and hissing "Get out."

The officer quickly nodded and almost ran out of the room, leaving Reaper alone. The mercenary slowly walked over to the console, and with the press of a few familiar buttons, the platform in the middle of the room began to glow, before the hologram of a hooded figure appeared.

"Reaper." It simply greeted, with its usual voice distortion.

"Speaker." The mercenary greeted back. The speaker for Talon Command simply looked at him for a few seconds, during which, Reaper crossed his arms, and walked into the middle of the room.

"Where's Lacroix?" Reaper asked. Not becuase he cared for her, but because he was used to being assigned the same missions as her.

"We're... fixing her, as much as we need to. That's all you need to know." The Speaker responded, and Reaper simply sighed.

"Well, what did you bring me here for then?" Reaper asked, with great annoyance and impatience in his voice.

"Due to Widowmaker's... unfortunate complication, you're now our most experienced field agent." The Speaker said, but Reaper just let out a grunt of annoyance,

"Tell me something I don't know." He sarcastically implored, and the Speaker looked at him.

"Remember which of us is a mercenary, and which of us is a loyal member of an all powerful organisation, Reaper." The Speaker warned.

"I prefer to remember which of us sits on his ass all day, and which of actually get the job done... Speaker." Reaper retaliated.

The Speaker let out an annoyed sigh over Reaper's defiance, but didn't say anything after that.

"Speaking off Lacroix's condition..." Reaper started, and the Speaker looked at him, "What about the Shimada brat? We know he's all alone in Hanamura, send me after him!" Reaper said, not hiding his personal want for Genji's death well.

"You don't need to think about that. We've already handled that situation." The Speaker said, and Reaper let out yet another annoyed grunt.

"Well, if I'm not going out into the field, what did you call me here for? Want me to play patty cakes with your grunts?" Reaper outright insulted the Speaker.

"Restrain yourself and remember who's paying you." The Speaker warned, but Reaper again retaliated.

"You know, just as well as anyone, that I'm here to see Overwatch burn!" Reaper said, with an accusing finger pointed at the Speaker. "The money's just a bonus." He added.

The Speaker took a few seconds to restrain himself from trying to strangle Reaper over holo, and eventually calmed down enough to continue.

"What we brought you here for, isn't here." The Speaker finally said, and Reaper listend with crossed arms. "You'll be sent to our base in Arizona. What exactly you'll be doing there, will be explained once you arrive."

"Arizona? Really?" Reaper asked, but the Speaker was now the one to retaliate with "Would you prefer to play patty cakes with our soldiers?"

Reaper simply let out a quite intimidating grunt, before turning around, and beginning to walk out of the door.

"Well, then I suppose I'll see you there." Reaper sarcastically said, but the Speaker wasn't done.

"Wait." He exclaimed, and Reaper turned around.

"You will need the help... " "Say I need help one more time and I'll track you down and tear out your throat with my own goddamn hands!" Reaper warned.

"Urgh, fine. The 'cooperation' of another of our top personel. Try not to kill each other, before the mission is complete." The Speaker said. The hologram quickly ended, before purple flicker suddenly appeared behind it.

* * *

With both his hands and feet clenched tight around whatever he could use, Genji rode atop the Shinkansen, trying not to fall off at the extreme speeds.

Even though this was the most effective way for him to get around in his homeland, that didn't mean he enjoyed it. Thankfully, the next stop was only a few minutes away, and there he could take a few minutes to prepare for the next stretch.

The train first went under a glass roof, before it entered the station and stopped. The doors opened and the various businessmen and tourists exited the train, while Genji finally relaxed on top of the train.

The cyborg ninja quickly looked at the times, and confirmed that there were ten minutes until this train was leaving the station.

Not having anything better to do, Genji decided to sit and try to mediate to pass the time. However, as he was about to do so, he noticed something.

Among all the businessmen and tourists waiting to get into the train, one man stood out.

Next to a hooded guy, stood a man with black skin, that looked like he was in his middle to late thirties. He was also wearing a full suit with sunglasses, and he had a black leather glove covering his right hand. But that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was, that he also had some sort of mechanical plates stuck to his jaw and the back of his head.

As Genji looked closer, he began to think he could recognize him from somewhere, but he couldn't determine where.

Just as he felt like he was about to figure it out, the doors to the train opened, and the man entered along with everyone else, bumping into the hooded guy on the way.

"Goddammit." Genji mumbled in a low voice. He quickly checked the times, and there were still eight minutes until departure.

The cyborg ninja quickly jumped down on the empty track next to the Shinkansen, and looked in through the windows. He quickly found the man, and saw that he was walking towards the front of the train.

Genji quickly and quietly followed him through the train, until he sat down in one of the carts in the front. As Genji looked at him, he saw that the man had an earpiece in his right ear.

Extremely careful to not get caught, Genji jumped up on top of the train on the other side of the empty tracks, and positioned himself so he could keep an eye on the man.

He just sat in his chair, but after a few minutes of looking around, the man suddenly reached up towards his earpiece and pressed it. He moved his mouth, followed by him sitting silently, likely listening, for a little while, before he moved his mouth again, and pressed the earpiece again.

The man then got up from his chair, and started walking in the direction of the bathrooms.

Genji quickly moved, and jumped over right next to the Shinkansen. He found a gap between two carts, and after some manouvering and lockpicking, he managed to gain access to the same cart the man had been in. However he was nowhere to be seen.

Genji slowly started walking through the empty section of the cart, until he reached the bathroom and saw that it was locked.

Testing his theory, the cyborg ninja casually knocked on the door. "Taken. Go find another." An annoyed male voice with an african accent said from the inside.

"Jackpot." Genji mumbled to himself. He quickly looked to either side, to make sure no one would get caught in harms way, if it came to that, before kneeling down in front of lock.

After some further lockpicking, Genji finally heard a small click, and stood up again.

Checking one last time for other people, Genji opened the door and stepped inside the room-sized bathroom.

Once inside, Genji saw the man standing in front of the mirror, with a naked upper body. His upper suit was hanging on the side of the sink, and he had laid the glasses on the side of the sink.

Genji slowly took one step closer, and when he did, he saw that the man's right arm was cybernetic. Most of it was golden, with a few black spots here and there.

And now, without his glasses, Genji finally recognized the man.

"Akande Ogundimu." Genji said out loud, as he got three shurikens ready.

"Genji Shimada." Akande responded, as he looked at him in the mirror. "Where are all your friends?"

"I'm here alone." Genji sternly responded.

"I see that, but... why?" Akande asked, as he turned around to look at Genji.

"Becuase I wasn't expecting Talon to be so stupid as to attack two places to close to each other, in such short time." Genji retorted, before taking a battle-ready stance, to which Akande only chuckled.

"You're saying that like it's a bad thing." Akande returned, as he moved he cybernetic arm a little.

"You kill innocent people!" Genji retorted, in a hostile voice.

"Weeding out the weak." Akande corrected with a surprisingly calm voice.

Genji was briefly quiet, before asking "How can you see anything Talon is doing as good?" with disgust now also present in his voice.

"Because they understand." Akande said, before the two combatants started circling each other, still with Akande being the most calm one. "Face it, Shimada. That body wasn't given to you to protect you from life. You weren't granted your skills in ninjitsu to defend yourself. They were given to you, so you could conquer your enemies, and end up the victorious one." Akande said.

"Humans evolve through conlict. Overwatch works against that." He then summarized, with a premature victory-grin.

"But at what cost?" Genji asked, maintaining his hostile stance.

"The cost?" Akande asked, as the combatants stopped circling each other. "The cost of the weak. Of the sickly. And of course, the people like you..." He said, as he pointed his cybernetic hand at Genji. "The unwilling."

As he said that, his cybernetic arm suddenly began to vibrate and pulsate with golden energy. Even though Akande didn't look like he was used to it, he still maintained his grin, as his arm began to slightly twitch.

"See now, the power off the Doomfist gauntlet!" Akande exclaimed, as the arm suddenly shot out to the side, and stopped moving. Then, in three short bursts, it expanded, growing to three times it original size, and eveloping more of Akande's chest.

The transformation stopped, and Akande slowly moved the new arm around, flexing the fingers. He then looked at Genji, and began to charge the fist, as the ninja prepared to dodge.

Blue energy began to pulsate out of the gaunlet, as it vibrated more and more violently, until Akande suddenly charged at Genji with overwhelming speed from the gauntlet.

Genji tried jumping over, but the gaunlet was faster than he had anticipated, and with a giant explosion of energy and noise, Genji was knocked through the bathroom door, through the side of the train, and ended up lodged halfway through a concrete pillar on the station itself.

"Ahh. Power have never felt so... powerful." Akande said, and Genji turned his head towards the hole in the train, where the african fighter stood.

Then, with bare feet, Akande stepped out of the train, and as other people began to flee from both the train and the station, he casually stepped through the flames that'd begun to spread.

As he was getting closer, Genji tried to push himself out of the pillar, only to land amidst all the rubble on the station floor.

"So pitiful." Genji heard Akande say, and looked up, only to see him look down at him. "You were such a prime example of my philosophy." Akande then said.

"I'll never represent something the likes of you believe in!" Genji defiantly said, before trying to get up. However, almost all of his lims screamed of pain, and he was too slow. Once he managed to get up, Akande simply kicked him in the chest, knocking the ninja over, before placing a foot on his chest.

"Indeed you won't." Akande then said, as he aimed his fist at Genji. "You don't have guts to do so." He said, and began to charge his fist.

Out of nowhere, the fist suddenly began to twitch uncontrollably, even taking Akande by surprise. Small bolts of electricity began to appear on the gauntlet, as the sound of systems being fried escaped the golden outer layer.

"What the hell?!" Akande said, as the gauntlet fell to the floor, taking him with it.

"A small EMP." A voice behind Akande said, and both him and Genji turned towards the source, only to see the same hooded figure that'd stood next to Akande.

"No matter." Akande said. "It'll fix itself in no time."

"And when it does, I suggest you take that opportunity to leave, with what little of your dignity left, intact." The hooded figure said.

"Who the hell are you to make such threats?!" Akande retorted, and Genji could see the fingers of the gauntlet beginning to slightly move again.

In response, the figure didn't say anything. Instead, it walked over to the pillar next to the one Genji had crashed into, and to everyone's surprise, kicked it. Then, after a few seconds, a bow and quiver fell from the upper parts of the structure.

The figure grapped them and equipped them effortlessly, before pulling an arrow and pointing it directly at Akande.

"I'm the only person right now that can kill you, if I so desire." The figure finally answered, as it walked closer to Akande.

Akande briefly looked at him, before looking down at the gauntlet. "Who the hell are you?" Akande asked, as he slowly tried to stand up.

The figure looked towards Genji, before looking back at Akande. It then lowered the bow, and pulled back the hood, revealing black hair and a fine kept beard.

"I am Hanzo Shimada, brother to Genji Shimada, rightful heir to the disbanded Shimada Crime Syndicate and the only person you need to concern yourself with right now." Hanzo said.

"Hanzo?" Genji asked, and even though he wanted to get up and hug him on the spot, his limps were telling him that that would cause more harm than good.

"I'll be there in a second, brother." Hanzo said, before returning his attention to Akande, who now seemed to have gotten the gauntlet to work.

"Akande Ogundimu." Hanzo said, and the african fighter turned his attention back to the archer. "In my quiver, I have enough EMP-outfitted arrows to keep you at bay until the military arrives, and takes you into custody. But if you so choose, I will let you leave, on the promise to cease all hostilities against my brother and his allies. Which now also includes me." Hanzo threatend.

Akande looked baffled for a good couple of seconds, until his expression became one of anger.

"I will not back down!" Akande said, but as he took a single step forward, Hanzo fired the arrow in his bow right onto the gauntlet, however there was no static frying or shocks.

Akande briefly looked at the arrow with confusion, before back at Hanzo, who now stood with a detonator in his hand.

"Last. Chance." Hanzo threatend.

Akande looked at him, before back at the arrow in his gauntlet. Then, as he straightend his back, he pulled out the arrow and looked at Hanzo, fury yet also some sort of respect in his eyes.

"Very well." He said, before turning his back to the brothers and taking a few steps away. He then stopped and turned around, as he proclaimed "But know this, Shimada. One day, whether I'm alive or dead, my plans will some into fruition, and there's nothing you can do to stop it!"

Hanzo simply kept staring, but Genji said "Perhaps not alone. But together, we will." Akande simply turned back around, and with a fully charged fist, he flew up, through the roof of the station, and out of sight.

Hanzo kept standing and watching the roof for a few seconds, until he finally turned around, and went over to his brother, who was still lying among the pieces of the pillar.

"How are you feeling?" The archer asked, as he knelt down next to Genji.

"Apart from almost all of my limps hurting, I'm perfectly fine." Genji responded, and Hanzo let out a quick sigh.

"How did you know about him? And do all of that?" Genji then asked, as he tried to get up, but failed.

"I discovered him arriving in the night to yesterday, and I followed him until this morning. When I realized where he was going, I prepared to take him on here and now, before he could cause further harm." Hanzo explained, as he helped his brother up. "The one thing I never prepared for, however, was you."

"You never do." Genji remarked with a grin, as they together began to make their way out of the station.

"Do you have a way to contact your allies?" Hanzo asked, as they were almost at the exit of the empty station.

Genji briefly turned towards him, and nodded, as he pointed to the side of his helmet. Hanzo simply nodded, and Genji tried contacting the rest of Overwatch.

"Yes?" The sound of Torbjorn's voice rang in his helmet, after a few seconds.

Genji briefly chuckled, before admitting "God, you have no idea how happy I am to hear your voice, Torb."

"Okay?" Torbjorn simply responded, souding very confused. "Are you all right?" He then asked.

"Not really." Genji admitted. "I'd appreciate it if you could come and pick me up, so I didn't have to walk home on my legs, which I'm pretty sure are broken." He then asked, as Hanzo put him down on a patch of grass, a good distance away from the station.

"Of course, of course. A team will be send, and if I'm correct, then Angela's on it." Torbjorn said, and Genji chuckled.

"That would be like her." The cyborg ninja admitted, but as he did so, Hanzo suddenly turned around and was about to walk away.

Genji quickly grapped his arm, as he said "Do you mind, for a second?"

"Sure." Torbjorn said, and the line went briefly quiet.

"Where are you going?" Genji asked his brother, confusion clear in his voice.

"Away." Hanzo simply answered him.

"Why?" Genji kept asking, in a just as simple way.

"My job here is done. Doomfist has left, and you are safe until your allies arrive. There is no point to me staying." Hanzo explained, in a voice Genji found a little bit cold.

The cyborg ninja let out a heavy sigh, before letting go of Hanzo's arm, but the archer didn't leave. Instead, he turned towards Genji, as he felt his brother wasn't done.

"Do you really think the job ends here?" Genji asked, and Hanzo looked at him with a slightly confused expression. "It doesn't." Genji then said, and Hanzo listened carefully.

"Doomfist will return. If not here, then somewhere else in the world. And when he does, he'll have the backup of Talon behind him, along with Reaper and Widowmaker. No one can stop that. Not even you. But if you join us... join me... then we have a chance. We have a chance to end them, and finally bring peace." Genji said with deepseeded passion clear in his voice.

At first, Hanzo was quiet and contemplating, before answering. "Genji, the people you fight beside... they are honorable and dear friends to you. I tried to kill you, my own brother. Even if I could, then I don't deserve to fight alongside you and such other heroes. What you are asking of me, is just..." The archer turned away, and slowly started walking away. "... something I cannot do."

Genji looked at his legs, but felt the same stubbornness that drove his brother take over. He put his hands on the ground and ignored the screams of pain from his legs, as he slowly rose.

"Hanzo!" Genji excaimed, when he finally stood on his legs.

His brother turned around, and Genji slowly started limping towards him. "Stop doing that to yourself." He implored as he limped towards his brother. "I have forgiven you. You have nothing to prove to me, and I don't see the reason for you to keep yourself down."

Genji was now right in front of Hanzo, and he slowly grapped his brothers hand, and held it open. He then reached into his pockets, and pulled out a sparrow feather.

"You don't have to sell yourself so short, and let your talents go to waste. Beacuse frankly..." Genji said, before placing the feather in Hanzo's hand, and closing it around it. "... there's no one else I'd rather save the world along side, than my brother."

Genji let go of Hanzo's hand, and the archer opened it, and looked at the feather. He then looked up at Genji, who was visibly starting to get tired in his legs, and closed his hand again.

The archer sighed, and put the feather in his hair, before taking Genji's arm over his shoulder, and helping him back to their original spot.

"Very well." Hanzo reluctantly said, and even though he couldn't reveal it, Genji smiled under his mask.

Once they reached the top again, Hanzo put Genji down, and the cyborg quickly thanked him, before returning to his connection. "Oh, and Torbjorn? There's one more thing."

"What's that?" The swedish dwarf asked.

Genji quickly looked at Hanzo, before saying "Tell the others to save an additional seat in the dropship."

"Will be done." Torbjorn said, before closing the line.

Hanzo carefully sat down next to his brother, before mumbling "We'll see."


	22. Passengers

"Goddammit." Akande mumbled to himself, as he held his head in the palm of his left hand.

He quickly took a look around the black inside of the Arial Reconnaissance Unit, or ARU for short. Even though it was one of Talon's most frequently used arial vehicles, Akande hand't been in one of them for a long time. And now he was sitting, only to think about his defeat at the hand of Hanzo.

"You okay there, sir?" A feminine voice from the cockit suddenly said.

Akande quickly turned towards the sound of the voice, only to see the whitehaired pilot looking at him. "You should focus more on flying the plane than my feelings, Anyango." Akande said to the pilot of same skin color as him.

"You're probably right, but I can multitask." Anyango argued, before returning to the cockpit. "Like how I managed to both stay undetected and locate that Shimada cyborg for you." She then said.

Akande briefly sighed, before admitting "Well, this was my chance to prove I was a better wielder of the gauntlet than Akinjide, yet I screwed it up." as he looked at the gauntlet that was now the same size as his other arm.

"Y'know, you could just chalk it up to a tactical retreat." Anyango tried, with a small shrug of her shoulders.

"I could. The question is, whether the Speaker would accept that." Akande responded, before looking up towards the cockpit.

"The... Speaker?" Anyango questioned.

Akande briefly got a thoughtful expression on his face, before he got up from one of the four seats in the middle, and went up to the cockpit. "Answer me this." He said, as he leaned up against the side of the cockpit, and looked out of the window, out over the seemingly endless water.

Anyango looked up at him with a questioning look, and without taking his eyes off the water, Akande asked "How long have you been part of Talon?"

"Two to three months. Why?" Anyango asked back, still with her eyes focused on Akande.

The african man pointed out towards the water, and Anyango quickly composed herself, and returned to focusing on flying, before he answered.

"Talon just has a tendency to... make people quiet around their superiors." Akande said, in a very neutral and toneless voice.

"Well to be fair, you're the only real boss I've felt comfortable talking too." Anyango let out, as she stole a single glance of Akande. In response, Akande looked back, and Anyango quickly returned to focusing on the plane.

"To answer your question about the Speaker, though..." Akande began, as he looked at his cybernetic hand. "He is the only person to have knowingly been ín the presence of Talon Command. He is the only one below their rank they talk to, aside from high-level prisoners of course, and he relays all their orders to the rest of Talon." Akande explained.

"Does he himself have any power, though?" Anyango curiosly asked.

"A lot." Akande said. He was then in a thoughtful silence for a few seconds, before he continued. "The only ones to have a higher rank than him, besides Command, is the division directors." He then said before turning around and beginning to walk back. But Anyango had another question.

"And who are the division leaders, then?" She asked, although still managing to keep focused on flying the ARU.

Akande stopped, and briefly chuckled, before remarking "You certainly have a lot to learn."

"Well, I've spendt most of those aformentioned months in flight-school, so..." Anyango responded, and Akande nodded. He then turned around, and walked back towards the cockpit, as he began explaining.

"If we ever cross paths again I will tell you more, but for now, just know that Talon is divided into three divisions: The Combat, Reseach and Initiation divisions, and they each have a director that manages everthing within it." Akande said, as he reached the cockpit again.

"Okay, I get what the combat and research divisions do, but what about the intiation one?" Anyango asked.

"That's the part where recruits are tested to see in which of the other two divisions they belong. If they belong in Talon at all, that is." Akande said, before turning towards Anyango, and adding "Flight-school is a part of that division."

"So I've been moved from one part to another, without even realizing it?" Anyango asked, sounding both impressed and a little bit annoyed. Akande simply nodded.

"Well, I'll be damned." She then said to herself.

Akande simply returned to looking out the window on the vast ocean, until Anyango suddenly remarked "If you don't mind me saying, then I'm glad you were the boss on my first real mission."

"Reaper's reputation proceeded him, I take it?" Akande asked.

"Well, yeah, but also Widowmaker. They're spoken about as nothing but cold-blooded killers." She explained, and Akande nodded. Even though he didn't say anything, he felt a small amount of regret. He, and many others, had joined Talon because they agreed with their goals, but Akande often found himself at conflict over how matters were handled, and who they were handled by.

"Do you think we'll be on the same mission again in the future?" Anyango suddenly asked, shaking the african fighter out of his thoughts.

"Though unlikely, it could happend. It all depends on the relocating." Akande answered her honestly.

"Relocating?" Anyango asked, and Akande briefly chuckled over her inexperience, before answering.

"Everyone is relocated after a mission, to make it more difficult to track us down." Akande explained, before adding "And it's very often between different bases on different continents."

"Oh... well." Anyango responded, her voice suddenly a bit more somber.

The pair was quiet for a few seconds, until Akande spoke. "For your first mission, you did good. Keep that up."

"I... thanks." Anyango responded with the only words she could find. Akande briefly chuckled, before clapping her on the shoulder and returning to his seat. As he sat down, he mumbled low enough so that Anyango couldn't hear him.

"I hope, for your sake as well as mine, that the Speaker is in a good mood today." He said.

* * *

With a small noise, the dropship landed on the grassy field, where Genji and Hanzo were waiting.

"About time." Hanzo mumbled, before the pair began to trek towards the dropship. Genji didn't say anything. Instead, he wondered inside how he was going to present his brother to the others.

Once the dropship had fully landed, and a little bit of steam was let out, the door on the side opened, revealing Angela and Soldier 76.

Initially in silence, Angela quickly ran over to Genji and helped Hanzo support his hurt brother, as 76 simply stood in the doorway and watched.

As they walked closer, Angela took a quick look at Genji's condition, and asked "What happend?"

"Akande Ogundimu." Hanzo sternly responded, before Genji had a chance to come up with an answer of his own.

Angela didn't say anything, but her face darkend a bit upon hearing that old name.

Once the trio made it up to the dropship, 76 finally approached them and looked at Angela questioningly.

"Ogundimu." Angela quickly explained, and 76 briefly froze. As Angela and Hanzo carried Genji into the dropship, 76 followed behind and exclaimed, in his old gravely voice, "We've got them. Let's go, Athena."

"Understood 76." The AI responded, and the door on the side closed before the low sound of the engines starting filled the ship.

"I've got him." Angela said, directed at Hanzo. The archer quickly looked at Genji, with an unsure look.

"She's good." Genji reassured, and Hanzo nodded before letting go of his brother.

"I'll be attending to his wounds, if anyone needs me." Angela exclaimed, before helping Genji up into the medical compartment in the back of the dropship.

Not having to carry his brother anymore, Hanzo looked around the ship. After a few seconds, his eyes landed on 76, who was staring back behind his mask from one of the seats along the wall.

Both of them looked at the other with caution, as Hanzo slowly backed over to the opposite side of the ship, and sat down in one of the seats.

An uncomfortable yet tense silence filled the room the ship, the small sounds of the outside world and Angela and Genji talking being the only real noises.

Hanzo eventually straightened his back, and took off his hooded coat. Once he was done, he looked back at 76, who was still observing him.

After a little while, the archer eventually decided to break the silence.

"I... " "There's a new message from Watchpoint: Gibraltar." Athena suddenly interrupted him.

Hanzo expression now became one of annoyance, as both he and 76 looked up towards the source of the voice. "Put it through." 76 calmly ordered, and after a few seconds, Winstons voice filled the dropship.

"I just wanted you guys to know that we're already making preparations for the new arrival. However, if there's anything else we should know about, please let us know." The gorilla's voice said, before the message ended.

76 then looked to the back of the ship, where Angela suddenly appeared in the entrance.

"I don't have anything. If there are any medical things regarding the kid, you should let them know." 76 said, directed at the swiss doctor. She nodded, but Hanzo quickly shifted his gaze towards 76.

"There are a few things." Angela admitted, before quickly making her way up into the cockpit.

"Kid?" Hanzo asked, once Angela had made out of hearing-range.

76 turned towards the archer, only to be met with a stern and questioning look. "He's still young, and he's got a lot to learn." 76 argued.

"In body perhaps, but in spirit, he is one of the most mature people I know." Hanzo argued back.

"That doesn't mean a lot." 76 suddenly said.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Hanzo argued back.

"A vigilante shut-off doesn't carry a lot of credit, in my eyes." 76 said, and even though he managed to not completely show it, Hanzo was greatly offended by that comment.

"I see several flaws in that argument." Hanzo said back, his voice now bearing a searing cold undertone.

"Such as?" 76 argued back, also in a more challenging voice.

"Firstly, if not for Overwatch, you would be just as much a vigilante shut-off as me. Except I carry the courage to show my face." Hanzo started, and even through the mask, the intensity of 76's glare was clear. But he didn't say anything yet.

"Secondly..." Hanzo continued. "I have reasons. You have none. Or at least, none you're brave enough to share."

"Well, let's hear your reasons then." 76 asked, as he leaned forward in his seat.

"I was bred to be a killer." Hanzo started, his voice now a bit heavier. "I had a status and an honor. Yet that was all lost when I tried to kill my brother. I can't, nor will, show myself to people I know, becuase it would cause harm to them. In addition, my lost honor means I don't deserve such things either."

"Oh cry me a river." 76 said. Hanzo's eyes darkend a bit, as his one hand tightned the grip around his leg, while the other slowly reached behind his back.

"You think you're the only one who's experienced that sort of thing?" 76 then said. "You think you're the only one who've seen what humanity is truly capable off?"

"No." Hanzo answered straightforward. "What I do know with certainty, unlike any unfounded claims you make, is that the conflicts I was made to handle, were conflicts with no ethical rules."

"Do you even know who you're talking too?" 76 asked, but Hanzo hit him right back.

"No. That is why all you're saying could be a lie." The archer said, the coldness in his voice suddenly accompanied with confidence.

76 took a deep breath, before continuing to argue. "I have been on the front of real, brutal, warfare. You're nothing but a loose vigilante."

"Like yourself." Hanzo returned, and 76 looked at him with slight confusion. "Oh yes, I know." Hanzo then said, his confidence now much more clear in his voice. "Your exploits with Helix Security, your solo assault of owned property in Cairo, not to mention all the instances of vigilante justice." The archer then said.

"You little..." 76 said. His patience was at an end, and he quickly got up from his chair, and walked closer to Hanzo. However, when he was only a few meters away, he suddenly felt something pulling on his shoulder. He stopped and turned around, only to see Angela looking at him with a very stern look.

"Knock it off." She simply said.

"I'm not going to sit and let some newcomer scold me like that!" 76 argued, as he turned towards Angela.

"Then what gave Max that much leeway?" Angela asked, clearly pointing out 76's hypocrisy. Even though Hanzo didn't really follow what they were talking about, he simply sat and listend carefully to their exchange.

"Because it was Edmondson's job to question us. And he had your blessing." 76 continued.

"Dont. Ever. Call. Him. By that name. Again." Angela suddenly said in an incredibly threating tone, before adding "Besides, my 'blessing of knowing once' counts for more than Genji's 'blessing of family'?"

"Family that tried to kill him. And almost succeeded." 76 responded.

"True. But if you'd actually spent some time with the rest of us, then you'd have heard Genji talking about how he wishes his brother wouldn't kick himself so hard over it." Angela argued back.

76 was quiet. He briefly looked down, before looking back up, and with a small grunt, he turned around and walked back to his seat. As he sat down, however, Angela unexpectedly said "You should thank me, by the way."

"For what?" 76 asked with a cynical voice.

Angela didn't say anything, but instead just nodded in the direction of Hanzo, before walking off. 76 turned his head towards the archer, only to see him with his bow in his right hand and an arrow in the other.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize for the sorta unimportance of this chapter, but it was a few things I needed to set up. The next chapter, however, will focus entirely on Hanzo's introduction to the rest of Overwatch, so that will be interesting, to say the least. Until next time.**


	23. Hanzo Shimada

After a few hours of flight, with an incredibly uncomfortable atmosphere, Watchpoint: Gibraltar finally appeared under the pretty dark clouds.

Angela caught Hanzo's gaze, and with a nod towards the window at the side of the dropship, she encouraged him to take a look at his new home.

Still with his bow in hand, Hanzo got up and walked towards the window. On the way he passed 76, who watched him very closely.

"Hm. Quite impressive." Hanzo mumbled to himself, when he reached the window and saw the base that was carved into the side of the rock itself.

"You'll have to forgive us, if something suddenly doesn't work." Angela suddenly said from her position in the entrance to the cockpit. "Despite appearances, the base is quite old and sometimes that shows."

Hanzo simpy nodded.

As they continued their descent down, the dark clouds began to rumble and small cracks of thunder began to appear in them.

"Just great." 76 sarcastically mumbled in his seat. Seconds later, heavy rain and winds began to hit and pull at the dropship, causing it to rumble a little.

Hanzo took a single cautious step away from the window, before turning towards 76. The old soldier looked back at him, still with some caution in his gaze. "Let's hope your vehicle can manage to withstand the wrath of the elements." The archer simply said, before calmly returning to his seat.

The rest of the descent was quiet inside the ship, as the storm continued to increase in severity and winds' pull slowly got more and more noticable.

Finally, a small bump signalized that they had landed.

Angela and Hanzo went over to the side of the dropship, where 76 was already waiting. The old soldier quickly looked at Angela, who nodded, before pressing a button, opening the side.

As soon as the side opened, the rain soaked everyone's clothing to the core, and the wind pulled in everyone's hair, as well as pushing them a few steps back.

The trio quickly scanned the landing pad, but the intense rain and winds, as well as the occational strike of thunder in the background, made it difficult to make anyone out.

However, Hanzo noticed something glowing blue amidst the rain, and pointed towards it. 76 and Angela followed his finger, and they quickly recognized it as Lena's chronal accelerator.

"Let's hop YOU can withstand the wrath of the elements." 76 said to Hanzo, which earned him a displeased glare from the archer, before stepping out into the rain.

As they made their way towards Lena, along with trying to stand upright, the trio quickly realized that Hanzo dark-brown coat was much better at handling the rain than 76's leather jacket, or Angela's combat-medic outfit.

Once they reached the brit, they couldn't see anyone else around. "Where's the others?!" 76 almost shouted, so that he could be heard through the roaring storm.

"They're just in here. Come on!" Lena answered, before setting off to her left. The trio followed for a little while until they reached the entrance, and they all quickly rushed inside.

Once inside, the trio from the ship took a few seconds to catch their breaths, before 76 noticed "Well, now that that's over, how about you show us to the others?"

"Sure." Lena answered, although she didn't sound too thrilled about it. "But... where's Genji?"

Both Hanzo and 76 suddenly turned towards Angela, who maintained a calm expression. "Dragging him through that storm, whether on foot or on a stretcher, would likely cause more harm to his already damaged suit."

"If you say so." Lena responded.

However, as she was about to turn around, she suddenly froze when her eyes landed on Hanzo, who was trying to place his bow and quiver on his back, without making them anymore wet.

"You're..." Lena began before trailing off.

Hanzo quickly looked questioningly towards Angela, who unfortunatly didn't say or do anything helpful.

Lena quickly restrained herself from staring too much, and, with a little bit of unexpetced caution, she guided them through the base, until they reached the conference room, where everyone else was sitting around the round table.

As soon as the sound of the door opening reached them, all eyes turned towards the four people entering.

As Hanzo stepped inside, he thought he saw a single reflection of light from the corner, but before he could manage to think about it, Winston spoke up.

"And there they are!" The gorilla almost shouted.

With a small push from Angela, Hanzo stepped down to the table, as the three others took their usual seats around it.

"Well then..." Winston said, as he examined Hanzo a bit closer than the archer liked. "I must say, I wasn't expecting Genji to mean his brother, when he said to reserve an addtional seat."

"It was an unexpected change of course for me as well." Hanzo simply said, his gaze unwavering.

There was a brief moment of silence, where no one said anything. Hanzo immediately took it to examine the expressions of the people gathered around the table.

As his eyes scanned the enviroment, he was met with a varity of looks, from simply curios over uncertain to a few that just directly had very displeased expressions. Hanzo sternly met them all.

"Well..." Winston eventually said, and Hanzo returned his gaze to him. "Why don't you just introduce yourself?"

"From I have heard so far, it sounds like my brother has covered that." Hanzo simply responded.

"True." Winston admitted, before adding "But that doesn't necessarily mean we know YOU. So just please share a bit about yourself."

Hanzo sighed, but before he had a chance to begin, Lucio suddenly interrupted "By the way, where's Genji?" Angela quickly gave him the same story as she'd given Lena, and the brazillian DJ nodded, before returning to Hanzo.

The archer quickly looked around, making sure no one interrupted him again, before beginning.

"Well, as you all already know, my name is Hanzo Shimada." Hanzo began, while looking at no one in particular. "As you all also already know, I was, as the oldest brother, the heir to the Shimada Crime Syndicate and all the power that included. However, after my... confrontation with my brother..."

"More like attack." Lucio mumbled, but Hanzo immediately turned his head towards him and met his gaze head on, his eyes sending an incredibly serious warning. Lucio slowly looked away, before Hanzo continued.

"As I was saying..." Hanzo continued. "After my unfortunate confrontation with my brother, I realized that the family business was nothing but a bunch of honorless dogs, scrambling for whatever small pieces of power they could manage to scrape off the underbelly of the world..." As Hanzo spoke, his voice slowly rose in intensity, but he quickly managed to compose himself.

"Sorry. In other words, I realized that the Syndicate was not for me, so I left. And when my brother utterly destroyed it, a few months later, it denied any possibility of me returning, if I, for whatever reason, changed my mind."

A few suspicious glares appeared around the table, and Hanzo quickly added, in a pretty intense voice "Which I still haven't."

"We weren't saying that." Torbjorn quickly tried to apologize, but he was quickly met by a few of the glares himself.

"Correction: You, weren't saying that." McCree unexpectedly corrected him. Torbjorn just looked at him, but Hanzo answered him himself.

"I see that you, at the very least, carry the courage to speak up." The archer said, and McCree got a slightly appreciating expression, which Hanzo quickly ruined with "But... what is that costume you're wearing?".

"Firstly, the name's Jesse McCree..." McCree started, to which Hanzo mumbled "That is of absolutely no use to me." McCree ignored him and continued. "Second, it's called a cowboy buddy. Better get used to that."

"Cowboy?" Hanzo asked, before saying "While I am not sure about the cow part, you do definetly act like a small boy."

McCree's face immediately went completely red, but before he could manage to get up, Angela and Fareeha managed to grap his shoulders.

"Let go of me!" McCree tried. "See what I mean?" Hanzo then said, and McCree briefly turned towards him with a baffled expression, before reluctantly sitting back down.

Still with an emotionless expression, Hanzo turned back towards Winston and said "I believe that's everything I have that's worth sharing."

"Very well." Winston said, before asking "Any questions from the people here?"

Lena's hand immediately appeared in the air and Winston nodded in her direction. "If you don't mind me touching on, what I can imagine is a senistive subject... what do you think, all these years later, of what you did to Genji?"

Everyone's head turned towards Hanzo, and Reinhardt could be heard mumble "A question I'd like to ask myself."

The archer briefly looked down at the table, before taking a deep breath and looking back up. "Even if I told you everything... how it haunts me to this day in every waking hour, how it keeps me awake at night and how it completely and utterly destroyed me..." He took a small break, where his eyes fell on 76 and McCree.

"From what I have gathered so far, you would not fully take my words for what they meant. And that is not something I am interested in." He eventually continued.

"I... get that." Lena admitted in a heavy voice.

Silence filled the table for a few seconds, until Fareeha suddenly spoke.

"But if you're feeling such shame over it, why did you decide to join us?" She asked. Her voice was both cautious but also curious, as was her gaze.

"As you may already know, my brother has a way with words." Hanzo started, and a few heads around the table nodded. "He convinced me that, despite my lost honor, Overwatch was still a place for me. A place where I could help defend the innocent, and if I was lucky, perhaps regain some of my lost honor. And I have decided that I will try to do so. No matter the consequences for myself." Hanzo explained in a voice with both determination and stubborness.

"Well, I hope you will be a contributing member." Winston admitted.

No one said anything and a silence once again fell over the table. After a few seconds, Winston finally spoke up.

"Before you get to your room, there are a few things you need to know. Firstly, at some point in the upcoming week, we will need you to show us how you can be most useful to us, whether that be on the battlefield or at the base is up to you." The gorilla said, and Hanzo just nodded.

"Secondly, there are a few other things I, as well as a few others, will need to discuss with and explain to you. However, here isn't the place so we'll wait with that." Winston finished, and Hanzo nodded yet again.

"Well, I believe that was everything." Winston said, before adding "Does anyone want to show Hanzo his new... " "Wait." Hanzo suddenly interrupted, and all eyes turned to him.

"I have a question." The archer calmly explained and Winston nodded, letting him speak.

"On the flight here, I heard a name being mentioned, yet as far as I know, the bearer of that name has yet to show himself to me." Hanzo explained, before adding "I believe it would be best if I met everyone here after all."

"Well, who did they mention?" Winston asked, and even though it was phrased to Hanzo, his eyes went towards Angela and 76. However, before any of them had a chance to answer, Hanzo came first.

"They, or rather Soldier 76, mentioned an 'Edmondson'." He explained. For reasons he did not know, a look was suddenly exchanged between the members around the table.

"That would have to be me." A calm voice suddenly sounded, and Hanzo suddenly turned around while instinctively drawing his bow and aiming it at the source the voice: The dark corner where he'd seen a reflection of light.

With calm and rather quick steps, Max stepped forward, revealing himself.

"I would prefer if you pointed that elsewhere, if you'd be so kind." Max calmly asked, as he made a simple gesture towards Hanzo's bow, which was still pointed at him.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Hanzo suspiciously asked, as he lowered his bow. But he didn't put it on his back, something Max definitely noticed.

"Maximilian Dallenbach Edmondson, or just Max if you prefer, psychologist and mathematician, at your service." Max introduced himself in a rather formal way, before, to almost everyone's surprise, bowing somewhat deeply to Hanzo.

"Hanzo Shimada... vigilante, at your service." Hanzo introduced himself, as he put the bow on his back and bowed back to Max.

They both raised themselves at the same time and looked at each other with a mutual respect in their eyes, even though Max was the only one with a visible smile.

"Well..." Hanzo eventually said, as he turned back towards Winston. "I believe that was everything for now."

"Very well." Winston responded, before returning to everyone seated around the table. "As I was saying..." The gorilla then said. "Is there anyone who would like to show Hanzo his new room?"

At first, everyone around the table was quiet. Eventually, someone finally spoke up.

"I'll do it." Torbjorn said from his seat between Reinhardt and Fareeha.

"If you don't mind, then I would like to accompany them as well." Max unexpectedly requested and Winston turned towards him, before looking back at Torbjorn.

"It's fine by me." The swedish said, and Winston nodded before saying "Well, I'll call you sometime soon." to Hanzo. The archer nodded, before turning around and beginning to walk out, with Max and Torbjorn following close behind.

As they reached the door, however, Max turned towards the ones gathered around the table, and spoke clearly. "While we're gone, there is a word I would like you to consider, before reevaluating Hanzo."

Everyone just looked at him in confused silence.

"Indoctrination." Max said, before heading out the door with Hanzo and Torbjorn.

Once they were gone, everyone around the table shared a silent gaze with each other, before Lena spoke up.

"Did... anyone see him enter?" She asked.

"Max?" Fareeha asked, and Lena silently nodded.

"No." The egyptian then answered. As they looked around the table, it seemed almost everyone else had a similar response.

"How, though?" Lena then asked, and after a few seconds of even more silence, all eyes eventually landed on Angela. "Has he always been able to do that?" Lena carefully asked. At first, Angela just sighed in response.

"When I first transfered to his school, and became his friend, he was quite open about everything." Angela started, in a slightly heavy voice. "Including how he'd always been a sort of social outcast. Besides me, he didn't have many friends, and he always watched from the sidelines."

Angela took a short break, which Mei took to asking a question. "Watched from the sidelines?" She asked.

"Yeah." Angela confirmed before elaborating. "He's never been physically fit, and since he had no friends to call on, getting involved could only lead to one outcome."

"Getting bullied." Reinhardt said, with some sort of regret in his voice.

"Further." Angela simply added.

After a few seconds of silence, Angela finally concluded. "So... spending so much of his time, watching, he just got really good at it. He learned how to not attract attention and how to just... become part of the scenery." Like Reinhardt, there was a bit of regret in the swiss doctor's voice.

"So you took pity on him?" 76 asked.

"You wouldn't have?" Angela retorted. 76 was simply silent, and a rather uncomfortable silence fell over the room.

To break the uncomfortable silence, Lucio spoke up. "Well, Winston, what did you want to dicuss with Hanzo, one-on-one?"

It took Winston a few seconds to answer, probably because he'd lost his train of thought. "I'm going to explain the situation with... the traitor to him, and just generally let him know how things work around here. But it won't be one-on-one."

The gorilla turned towards Angela and 76, before explaining. "I would like you two to also be a part of it."

Both simply nodded.

"Well, that's everything for now. Dismissed." Winston concluded, and everyone stood up from their seats. As they walked out, Lena slowly fell behind, as she mumbled "Indroctrination?"

* * *

"I'm sorry for how the others treated you back there." Torbjorn apologized as he and Hanzo walked side-by-side down the white corridors, with Max close behind.

"It's fine." Hanzo simply responded, before adding "I'm used to being shunned."

"Perhaps. But Overwatch is supposed to be an example for others, not follow their bad behavoirs." Torbjorn argued back, a certain passion Max hadn't heard before in his voice.

Hanzo didn't respond, but seemingly began to think about what Torbjorn had said.

"If I may come with a theory..." Max said, and both Hanzo and Torbjorn turned towards him.

"Unlike any bad actions that the others may have committed in their pasts, the one they're judging you by, your attack on Genji, physically and mentally hurt someone that they already know and consider their friend." Max proposed, before summarizing with "You likely just hit something a little too close to home for them."

"That could likely be the case." Hanzo admitted, before returning to walking in silence.

As the trio continued to walk through the base, Torbjorn began explaining a few things to Hanzo Max already knew, like how they were reactivating the rooms one by one.

"And here we are." Torbjorn eventually said, and the trio stopped in front of a door.

"The systems have already been activated, and I'm sure Winston will call you once they're ready." The swedish said, and Hanzo simply nodded, before opening the door.

The lights in the room turned on after a few seconds, revealing a room similar too all the others Max had seen.

"I suppose I'll see you by then." Hanzo said mainly directed at Max, before he stepped inside. However, before he closed the door, Max suddenly intervened.

"One thing." The psychologist said, and Hanzo looked at him.

"If you see any... suspicious activity, I would prefer if you brought it to me before anyone else." Max said.

Even though Hanzo nodded, he still asked "Why?"

"I'll explain at the briefing." Max simply answered. Hanzo once again nodded, before closing the door, leaving Max and Torbjorn alone.

As they began to walk back, Max asked an unexpected question. "Why were you so accepting of him?"

"Huh?" The swedish just asked, and Max elaborated.

"All the others showed some level of resentment towards Hanzo, yet you were the only one who completely accepted him. Why?" Max said.

Torbjorn was quiet, before eventually sighing. "Let's just say I... believe in second chances."

Before Max had a chance to ask further questions, Torbjorn went left and inside his workshop, before closing the door, leaving Max in a state of solitary intrigue.

* * *

 **A/N: And now Hanzo is an official member of Overwatch. It'll be interesting to see what he'll do for them in the future. Until then.**


	24. Backgrounds

**A/N: Before this chapter starts, I've got something special I want to ask of you. You see, a couple of chapters back, I mentioned a user named ThatGreenDooredBookshop, who's been helping this story in more ways than just as a beta-reader. And recently, he's begun writing his own RWBY fanfiction, named **Sator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas (or just SATOR for short). However, it hasn't been very successful so far, so we would both HIGHLY appreciate it, if you went over and gave it a try. Thanks! Anyway, back to the story.****

* * *

The door to the briefing room opened and Hanzo stepped outside, before quickly moving back towards his personal room.

He had just been to the briefing Winston had mentioned the day before, along with Max, 76 and Angela. They had briefed him on how things like personal life and training went about in the base, as well as deciding that tommorrow, he would show them his combat ablities. And then, they had finally let him in on the fact that there was a traitor among them, and that was why Max was here. To figure out who it was.

At first, Hanzo had been very surprised over that, even though he didn't really show it. Yet, the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The foe they were batteling, Talon, were people who would do anything to win. Even the most foul and honorless tactics.

"A traitor..." Hanzo mumbled.

76 quickly followed Hanzo out of the room, but he went the other direction, towards the training area. That left Winston, Max and Angela in the room.

Still seated at the table, Angela and Max were discussing something in german, which Winston hadn't completely learned yet. And even if he had, he wasn't the type to listen in on others' conversations, so he just sat for himself, and got his papers in order.

However, the gorilla still had something he wanted to ask Max, and he didn't have anything else he could pretend to do while he waited for them to be done, so just decided to politely intervene.

"Erhm, excuse me, Max?" Winston said, as politely as possible.

" _Oh, es_ _irritiert mich ni..._ oh, sorry. Yeah?" Max said, as both him and Angela turned towards Winston.

"There was something I wanted to discuss with you. Under four eyes, if possible." The gorilla explained, and Max quickly nodded.

"Sure." He simply said, before getting up from his chair while adding "This isn't really that important anyway."

"I'll just wait outside." Angela quickly excused herself before also getting up and walking out of the room, leaving Max and Winston alone.

"Well what did you want to discuss?" Max curiosly asked as he leaned against the table.

Winston took a deep breath before answering. "I wanted to know what your initial impressions of Hanzo are." He explained before elaborating. "You seem to hold some sort of respect with him, and even though I know he isn't a possibility for the traitor, I..." He ended up trailing off.

"Still want a psychologist's opinion, since he's at your disposal anyway?" Max finished.

"Yeah." Winston admitted.

"Well, my intial impression of him are good." Max answered in a thoughtful voice. He then quickly looked up at the ceiling as he continued. "At first, I was worried he might have diffculties adjusting to a life in this base, but he seems like he's very adaptable. He's also a lot harder to read then the rest of you, no offense, but that doesn't seem to be entirely intentional. However, his willingness to help seem genuine, as does his determination to redeem himself."

"That's good to hear." Winston responded, before asking a somewhat unexpected quesion. "But, how come you managed to get his respect to quickly?"

"I'm not meaning anything meanspirited when I say this, I think I just understand his different way of life a bit more." Max answered.

"Different way of life?" Winston curiosly asked, seemingly not having taken offense at Max's statement.

"He's from Japan, and more than that, he's the son of a very influencial person, so he probably grew up with a more... old-fashioned way of living." Max explained.

"But so did Genji, and his lifestyle isn't that different from the others?" Winston asked.

"No, but there's something an important difference between those two." Max said, before elaborating. "Genji, throughout his whole childhood, was influenced by the international nature of digital entertainment. Arcades, tv's and such. But as the older brother, Hanzo likely had much less of that influence."

"I see..." Winston simply responded. A thoughtful silence fell over the room, as Winston pondered what Max had said. Eventually, he spoke up again.

"If you don't mind me asking, how come you understand that sort of living. At least that much?" The gorilla carefully asked.

"Well, I've been to Japan a few times during and after my education. But in all honesty, I don't really think it's the fact that I specially understand HIS way of living, just that I understand that it is a different way of living." Max honestly answered.

"I see your point." Winston admitted.

The pair sat in silence for a little while, before Winston admitted another thing. "However, your initial impressions of Hanzo isn't the only reason I kept you here." He said, and Max sent him a curious look.

The large gorilla got up from his chair, and as he walked towards the console at the other end of the room, he explained. "I wanted to know what your Progress on identifying the traitor is. I'm not exactly asking for a definitive answer yet, just some of your thoughts."

"It's fine." Max casually said, before quickly catching up to Winston at the console.

"Truth be told, there isn't really a lot to say." Max admitted. "I'm mostly still just observing, and while I have a good idea of who the people here are, I'm still a good while away from being able to say anything definitive."

Winston nodded with a small sigh, so Max decided to share something else instead. "But there is something else I've looked at." He said, and Winston looked at him curiosly.

"The message that initially revealed the traitor." Max said, with a small nod to the console. Winston understood and quickly brought forth the message.

"I discovered one very important thing from it, and it's all in that line." He said, as he pointed at the screen.

" _\- Veiled_?" Winston asked.

Max quickly hit himself on his forehead with his hand, as he lowly hissed " _Ich hasse Schirme!"_ in an incredibly annoyed tone.

He then quickly turned towards Winston and clarified. "No, the one above it."

" _I'm upholding my end of out bargain, so I'm counting on you to do the same_?" Winston asked, mostly to make sure.

"Correct!" Max slightly excitedly answered. However, he quickly composed himself before explaining.

"What's so important about that line, is right there in front of you. It's bargain! That means we aren't necessarily dealing with someone who agrees with Talon's philosphy and morals, but rather, someone who really wants something. Something that Talon can provide, but that Overwatch can't. Them being a traitor doesn't necessarily mean they're intentionally hostile towards Overwatch, but perhaps it's just a part of the deal they made." Max enthusiastically explained.

"Yes, I can definetly see that." Winston responded, as he got a look of realization on his face. But it quickly dissapeared, when he asked "But what does that mean for your invesigation?"

"In all honesty, it makes it a lot harder." Max admitted, with much less enthusiasm in his voice.

"Instead of figuring out whose morals align with Talon, which could've likely been easier, I instead have to find someone whose morals would allow them to sell out their brothers in arms for something they desperately need and Talon is able to provide. And like it or not, there's more of those. And figuring out what Talon is offering wouldn't hurt either." Max explained and Winston realized just how complicated the task they'd given him actually was.

"Well, if there are any ways we can help, just say so." The gorilla tried.

"I will, thanks. But for now, I think I just need to keep observing." Max said, and Winston nodded.

"Yeah... You definitely seem to be good at that." Winston commented, yet it unexpectedly earned him a slightly confused expression from Max.

"What do you mean?" Max asked. There wasn't any offense or anything like that in his voice, merely curiosity.

"You... don't know?" Winston asked with equal curiosity, yet Max just kept looking at him with the inquiring look.

"Whenever you observe, as you call it, you just seem to become almost invisible. Or rather, you just seem to reflect attention away from you." Winston explained.

"Huh. Oh yeah, Angela DID mention something like that, a long time ago." Max mumbled to himself, once Winston was done explaining. He then turned back to the gorilla and asked "Well, do you want me to stop?"

"Oh no, it's not that." Winston hastily assured. "It's just... I suppose we were just unprepared for just how effective you are at this." He then explained.

"You don't exactly get to make your livelihood off something you aren't good at." Max argued, yet in a friendly tone.

"True." Winston admitted with a slightly cartoony expression of defeat on his face. The two then stood in silence for a couple of seconds, until Max asked "Was there anything else?"

"No, that's everything." Winston said. However, to his surprise, Max didn't immediately leave. Instead, he turned towards the door and asked a rather unexpected question.

"Then there's something I'd like to ask you. Tommorrow, after Hanzo's demonstration of his battefield abilities, is there anything planned that requires the use of the dropship?" He curiosly asked.

"I... don't think so. Why?" Winston asked back.

"It'll make sense when the times arrives." Max cryptically said, with a knowing smile on his face. He then turned around and as he was walking towards the door, he turned back to Winston and asked him "I would prefer if you kept this between the two of us, until that point?"

"... Sure." Was all Winston answered.

Max just smiled, before opening the door and resuming his conversation with Angela, who was waiting on the other side.

" _Sollen wir fort fahren?_ " He asked and Angela nodded as they began walking, leaving Winston alone in a state of slight confusion.

* * *

Akande sat alone at one of the tables in the dining hall of the Talon base. Aside from five long tables in the middle of the area, there were also tables for four people sat up along the walls.

The african wielder of the Doomfist Gaunlet simply sat alone, lost in his own thoughts and occationally taking a bite of whatever it was they served.

However, a familiar voice quickly shook him out of his thoughts.

"Hey boss, didn't expect to see you here." The voice said, and Akande turned around towards the source of the voice.

"Anyango. I see you haven't been relocated yet either." He formally greeted the white-haired pilot.

"Not for long. Today's my last day here." She explained as she sat down on the other side of the table.

Akande didn't immediately say anything, so Anyango took the opportunity to ask a question. "You eating all by yourself?"

"Not any longer, it seems." He answered with a very small smile.

"Yeah okay." The pilot responded, also with a smile, before adding. "But before I got here?"

"There I was eating alone, yes." Akande answered her honestly. "It is somewhat to be expected, though." He then said and Anyango found herself unwillingly areeing with him.

"Yeah. It's a shame Widowmaker and that Reaper guy have tarnished your reputation that much." Anyango admitted.

"It's not only them." Akande unexpectedly responded. "Talon itself has a reputation for being brutal, something I wish the commanders would try to fix. However, it seems the higher you get in Talon, the more people expect you to be a ruthless dictator. And for the most part, that's unfortunantly also true." He then said with a bit of regret in his voice.

"But then I'm just glad I got you as my first boss." Anyango tried to lightend the mood and it somewhat worked.

Akande briefly smiled ar her, before changing the subject. "Tell me this Anyango, how much did you know about Talon before you joined?" He asked with intrigue.

"Not much to be honest." The pilot answered in a carefree voice. "I mean, I don't exactly come from a well-informed place, so most of our 'facts' were either completely made up, or based on something someone had heard someone else talk about. That mostly made Talon a sort of boogeyman." She then explained.

"But with that kind of reputation, why did you join?" Akande curiosly asked.

"Because... it was my only real option for survival." Anyango admitted, her voice and general demeanor suddenly becoming more serious.

"Is it too sensitive, or would you mind sharing?" Akande carefully asked her.

"No, it's fine." She quickly assured him. She took a few deep breaths, before she started to speak.

"My mother is... was from Senegal in Africa. As you know, the relief effort to help African countries completely stopped when the Omnic Crisis started, and it never really started again. I never knew my father, and whenever I would ask my mother, she would just ignore it, or say something like 'You'll know when you get old enough'. Like bloody hell I did!"

"She never managed to tell you?" Akande asked, and even though his expression was a pretty neutral, his gaze and voice had a bit of sympathy in it.

"No." Anyango simply answered. "Anthrax took her when I was... 8 or 9, I think? Anyway, I was lucky, because I quite quickly found group of other orphans, and we made a living off stealing and cheating for a couple of years. But it couldn't go on forever, and eventually, our greed caught up with us. There was a Talon representative in town, I still don't know what for, but he looked incredibly rich, so we thought he wouldn't mind if we 'burrowed' a few of his dollars. We were all supposed to help in one way or another, but long story short, he discovered us, and the others bailed on me."

She was briefly quiet before continuing. "I thought for sure I was going to die, right then and there. But for some reason, he asked me why I wanted to steal for him. I answered him honestly, and said, so that I wouldn't have to go to bed hungry. He then offered me this, a place to belong, and I immediately agreed."

As she finished her tale, Anyango looked at Akande with an inquiring look, hoping she hadn't come off as too whiney.

"I'm... sorry to hear you had to go through so much to get here." Akande eventually said, in an incredibly sincere and heartwarming tone.

"Well, like I said, I did get you as my first boss, so it seems my luck has started to turn." She then said, seemingly being back to her cheerful self.

Akande simply chuckled at her remark, before looking towards the five long tables.

"I can't say I have had it as difficult as you have. The only thing that comes close is losing my arm during the Omnic Crisis." He said as he slightly moved the gauntlet around, still with his gaze turned away from Anyango.

"It's fine." She reassured him, before commenting "Besides, I wouldn't really have liked it if I was just reliving my life, when I was supposed to read up about you before our mission together."

Akande then turned towards her, and asked "What base are they relocating you to?"

"Something called ISF Mykines. I get that Mykines is the location, somewhere North of the UK on something called 'the Faroe Islands', but what's an ISF?" She asked.

"It's short for Information Storage Facility. It's where all the important data is stored and guarded for potential later use." Akande explained.

"But what's a pilot supposed to do there?" She then asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure." Akande answered, before suggesting "But the most likely scenario is that they need pilots to covertly keep watch of the airspace around it."

"That does sound likely." Anyango admitted, before asked "And where are you going to?"

"ECC Bering." Akande quickly answered, and Anyango asked the expected question.

"And ECC means...?" She said though with a small smile.

"Espionage Command Central. It's the place where our spies in Russia are managed and deployed from." Akande patiently explained.

"Oh. How many of those ECC's are there?" Anyango then curiosly asked.

"Well, I only know about two more: One for USA and one for the UK." Akande answered before adding "But who truly knows?"

"Good question." Anyango agreed.

The next couple of minutes, the pair simply ate in silence. However, when Anyango was about to leave, Akande suddenly called out to her.

"Yeah?" She responded.

"Here." He said, as he threw something small. She easily caught it, but she couldn't see what it was so she turned towards Akande.

"It's my contact information, so we can stay in touch." He explained and Anyango's face immediately brightend up.

"I'll take good care if it." She promised. Akande simply smiled in return before he turned back to his food and Anyango walked away, also with a smile.


	25. Necessary Evaluation

The alleyway was only partially lit by the moon and whatever light managed to creep out of the barred windows at the side, while three piles of garbage were lined up against the walls.

As the time was almost midnight, a single figure suddenly turned down the alleyway and carefully made its way through it.

The figure took quiet, careful steps, as it inched closer to the other side. However, when it reached the middle, it stopped, right next to a couple of garbage bags, a dumpster and a trash bin. At the other end, a new figure at appeared. Yet unlike the cloth-wearing figure in the middle, this one was wearing a familiar dark combat-armor.

As the cloth-wearing figure stood and assessed the new arrival, it heard a sound behind it and it turned its head slightly, only to see two more combat-wearing figures in the other end of the alley.

"If this is how it's going to be..." The figure in the middle said, as it reached onto its back and pulled forth its familiar bow.

Once they saw Hanzo ready his bow, the two Talon operatives in the back immediately pulled out their rifles and aimed it at the back of the archer. The third Talon operative, which stood in front of Hanzo, didn't draw any rifle. Instead, he pulled out a medium-sized retractable blade.

At first, Hanzo just looked at the blade. The operative then flicked his wrist, and red electricity began to crackle around the blade.

"Then so be it." Hanzo eventually finished his sentence, before adopting a battle-ready stance. The rifle-wielding operatives also readied themselves, yet the melee operative just stood his ground.

"Let us begin." Hanzo said, and before the operatives had a chance to react, the archer quickly grapped the lit of the trashbin and threw at one of the rifle-wielding operatives, before quickly firing an arrow at the other.

As the blade-wielding operative closed the distance between him and Hanzo, the operative who had the lit thrown at him managed to roll to the side. But his partner wasn't as quick, and the arrow quickly pierced right through his right arm.

He quickly let out a scream of pain, and while his lit-avoiding partner tried to focus his aim on Hanzo, the blade-wielding operative reached him first and viciously lashed out at him.

However, the archer was quicker and managed to place his bow between him and the blade, blocking it.

He then quickly hit the operative on the neck, briefly stunning him, which Hanzo used to swiftly jump over him, so that the rifle-wielding operative couldn't get a clear shot.

The blade-wielding operative quickly regained control, and with surprising speed, turned around for another slash.

Hanzo just managed to jump back before the blade made contact with his stomach, and the operative tried to cut him again, but again, he jumped back.

Now slightly infuriated, the operative carelessly lashed out at Hanzo, who rolled to the side and ended right next to a trashbag. The operative, now even more frustrated, lashed out at him again, but Hanzo quickly managed to grap a trashbag, and throw it at the attacker.

The blade effortlessly cut through the black plastic, but that resulted in several individual pieces of trash, including empty cans for human- and catfood, half-eaten pieces of fruit and several other things, temporarily blinding the attacker.

Hanzo immediately capitalized on this, and quickly fired an arrow straight into the throat of the attacker. After a few gaggling sounds, he fell over, dead.

The archer then stood up, but immediately had to duck again, when the last concious member began to shoot at him.

As the bullets whisked past him, Hanzo thought of how to best deal with him, when he saw something. The dumpster had wheels.

With all the might of his legs, Hanzo kicked the dumpster, sending it rolling rather fast towards the operative, forcing him to get out of the way.

As soon as the bullets stopped, Hanzo dove out of cover and fired an arrow at the operative. Headshot.

With all the attackers dead, Hanzo stood up and took a minute to get his breath back. Yet his break wouldn't last long, because two more assailants suddenly appeared at the other end of the alley.

With only a split seconds to think, Hanzo dove towards the closest barred window. Though it hurt his arms, he managed to break through, and just as he landed on the wooden floor among splinters and loose nails, he could hear the bullets whisk past outside the window.

The archer quickly stood up and looked around. It was a small apartment, with just a coutch, a tv and a dining table with a few chairs around it.

The sound of cans getting stepped on shook Hanzo out of his thoughts, and he deduced that the two new operatives were coming for him.

He quickly jumped over the table, and flipped it to provide cover from anything that might come from the three windows. He then placed a arrow in the bow, aimed at the middle window and prepared to fire it.

A couple of seconds passed, where all Hanzo could hear was his own steady heartbeat. He remained focused on the windows, looking for any movements and listening for any sounds.

Then, after a few tense seconds, the bars over the leftmost window shattered, and the two operatives looked inside. Hanzo immediately fired the arrow into the eye of the right operative, before ducking into cover behind the table just as the other one began firing inside the room.

As Hanzo tried to come up with how to get out of the room, the firing suddenly stopped. As Hanzo was about peek out of cover, a single sniper bullet suddenly pierced the table and hit the floor only a few centimeters from Hanzo.

Then another bullet pierced. And another. Hanzo knew he had to move quickly. He peeked out of cover before quickly ducking again to avoid another sniper bullet, but he had seen what he needed. The sniper was on the third floor in the building next to.

As another bullet pierced the table, Hanzo mentally prepared himself. He then vaulted over the table and quickly made his way to the window, while avoiding yet another sniper bullet.

He then vaulted out of the window, and as expected, the operative was waiting on his left. He quickly thrust the sharp edge of the bow into the operatives stomach, before drawing an arrow.

However, as he was about to aim at the sniper, five more operatives suddenly jumped out of the building and immediately surrounded him.

Hanzo stood for a second, completely frozen, and evaluated the situation. He then slowly, with no sudden moves, put the arrow back in the quiver and pulled out a different one.

Then, to the confusion of the operatives, he aimed at the wall behind the operatives.

Breathing slowly, Hanzo aimed a few milimeters to the left, before letting go of the arrow. It hit the wall, and immediately scattered into a flurry of smaller arrows, all bouncing around the alley.

After a few seconds, Hanzo placed his bow back on his back, as all the operatives dropped, an arrow in their head. And after a few additional seconds, the sniper fell out of the window and down in the alleyway, also with an arrow in the head.

"Was that all?" Hanzo then asked out loud, as he turned around himself.

"Yes." 76's voice answered.

Everything around Hanzo suddenly glowed blue before vanishing, ending the simulation. Hanzo quickly walked out of the dedicated simluation area, with a hexagonal pattern on the floor, where each tile could rise and sink, with a soft retractable wall around it.

"Satisfied?" Hanzo then directly asked 76, once he reached him. Behind 76 stood almost everyone, besides Angela and Genji, and they had all seen Hanzo's demonstration. 76 himself stood with his arms crossed.

"Most certainly..." The old soldier responded, in a voice that was unusually thoughtful for him.

When 76 remained in silence, Hanzo turned towards the rest of the gathered, looking for any sort of response.

"That... was... AWESOME!" Lena suddenly exclaimed in a voice that was loud, even for her, and every turned to her, as she continued.

"The way you managed to dodge all those melee attacks, and then you used a trash bag to take him out, and that guy you just shot AS SOON as he appeared in the window, and that scatter arrow! What a way to finish it!" She continued.

"Most impressive, indeed." Winston acknowledged once Lena was done rambling. Compliments and positive comments soon started to spread throughout the group.

As they continued applauding him, Hanzo turned his gaze towards the back wall, behind everyone else. There, slightly covered in shadows, Max stood and watched in silence. But there was something unusual about his look.

He looked pretty displeased, but more than that, his gaze was somehow directed at everyone and no one in the room, at the same time. Even Hanzo didn't know how to do that.

"Well..." 76 finally said and everyone immediately silenced themselves. Hanzo turned towards the soldier with a questioning look.

"I believe you'll be useful on missions, there's no doubt there." He started. "Your use of enviroment is also to be commemorated. In other words..." 76 now turned towards Winston. "I think he's good to go for the next mission. Then we can see what happens."

Winston nodded but Hanzo didn't exactly seem to like the last sentence. But before he could manage to say anything, Lena once again spoke.

"That's it then?" The brit asked and 76 simply nodded.

Everyone immediately got up from their seats and started walking out of the room, with Reinhardt and Fareeha purposefully walking next to Hanzo. The two last ones out were 76 and Lena, but before they exited, 76 turned towards Max, who was still leaned up against the wall.

"We're done here." 76 said in a mostly neutral tone.

Max turned his head towards 76 and responded in an equally neutral vocie. "You aren't."

The soldier simply grunted before exiting the room. But Lena remained behind and looked at Max, who had returned to looking at the simulator with the displeased look.

"Is something wrong?" Lena asked before taking a careful step closer to Max.

However, instead of answering, Max just slowly began walking towards the simulator. Once he reached it, he leaned against the low walls and looked at the hexagonal floor, before looking at the four projectors, one in each corner, that projected the enemies.

"Did... you want to try it?" Lena tried, very unsure of what exactly Max was doing.

"What do you think?" Max asked and it was still in the neutral tone as before. Yet when it came from Max, it sounded a lot more cold than when it came from 76. Or perhaps it was just more cold, Lena couldn't hear.

"Anyway..." Max said as he turned back towards Lena, now again with his usual warm expression and tone.

"Mind doing me a favor?" Max then asked as he began approaching Lena.

"I don't see any reasons not to." Lena responded, also with a smile.

Max lowly sighed before mumbling "Enthusiasm." He then quickly looked back at Lena, and explained. "Would you mind telling Mei to meet me in the hangar with her wintercoat, and then telling Winston that we'll be gone for a while?" He explained.

"Er, sure... but where are you going to?" Lena asked back with much uncertainty in her voice.

"No offense, but I get the impression that you're not the type who's able to keep secrets for long." Max said, as they walked out of the training area.

Lena got a slightly pouty face, so Max quickly added "And if she already knows where she's going, then I anticipate that the trip there will be much more uncomfortable for her. So you'll have to forgive my caution."

"Fine." Lena finally said and Max smiled. He then suddenly turned towards the personal rooms, as he added "In about fifteen minutes."

"... Sure." Lena said, but Max didn't visibly register that she'd said anything.

Now pondering what on earth they were going to be doing, Lena turned towards the recreational room and began to make her way there to find Mei, with a weird feeling in her stomach.

* * *

As Mei made her way towards the hangar, her encounter with Lena for some reason had stuck in her head.

It wasn't even because Lena had said anything that strange to her. She'd just come up to her and said "Hey, Mei? Max asked to meet you in the hangar. And to bring your wintercoat."

Mei had just responded with a casual "I'll be there." But it was Lena's behavior that had stuck with Mei.

When she had mentioned Max, there had been a small amount of uncertainty in her voice, and she had generally adressed him a lot more weirdly than usual.

However, Mei just shrugged. She was going to ask Max, so she didn't have to worry about it so much.

She finally reached the hangar, and once she entered, she saw Max standing next to an open dropship, with a light jacket he hadn't been wearing before.

"Ah, Mei. There you are." Max exclaimed once he saw her enter. As he began walking towards her, he saw that she had kept her promise and was carrying her usual winter coat.

"How are you doing?" He asked once he was closer, and he sounded like he usually did.

"Good. I've been thinking a bit, and I'm thankful for what you've done for me." Mei answered him honestly.

"Glad to hear that." Max simply responded, before turning around towards the dropship.

"Do you have any plans?" Max then casually asked.

"... Not really." Mei admitted, in a slightly embarassed voice.

"That's fine." Max quickly assured her, before explaining "I was hoping you would go to somewhere with me."

"Where?" She asked, but Max just smiled in return.

"If I tell you... well, that would ruin the surprise." Max said in a slightly joking voice. Mei kept looking at him curiosly though, and Max continued.

"I supose all I can really do here is ask you: Do you trust me? Do you trust I want what's best for you?" He asked, his voice now more sincere and serious.

Mei stood for a second, before finally nodding.

"Great!" Max exclaimed, before he started moving towards the dropship. Mei simply sighed with a smile, before starting to follow along behind him.

Once they were inside the dropship, and the doors had closed, Mei suddenly adressed Max. "Hey... Max?" She carefully asked.

"Yeah?" Max asked back, as he stood by the window.

"I..." Mei started, but she briefly stopped when the drophsip suddenly rumbled a bit, before taking off.

"Anyway." She then said before trying again. "I wanted to ask you, did something happend? When you were alone with Lena, I mean?" Mei asked, but before Max had a chance to answer, she quickly added "I don't mean it like 'that', of course... not that I would be against it either, but..."

"It's fine." Max quickly assured her, and Mei quickly sighed.

"I... suppose it was that simulation." Max eventually answered, and Mei looked at him with confusion. His voice was suddenly more serious, as was his expression.

"The simulation? With Hanzo?" Mei asked and Max nodded.

"If you don't mind me asking, what was so bad about it?" Mei asked.

This time, Max was silent and he crossed his arms as he seemed to think about something pretty intensely. He eventually let out a sigh and as he turned to the window on the side, he said "I'm not a fan of violence. No matter which form it takes."

He simply kept looking out the window, and Mei felt like it was best not to dig into it any further for now.

* * *

 **A/N: I apologize if you found this chapter a bit unnecessary, but there were some things I wanted to make clear before the next chapters. Speaking of the next chapters though, I would really appreciate any feedback you may have on this story, so that I can make the next chapters as excellent** **as possible. That's not to say that I don't try to make what I usually write as excellent as possible, but the chapters that are coming up will be really important, so I just want to give them everything! Or if you have any suggestions/ideas, then I'd also love to hear it! Anyway, that's all for now. Until next time!**


	26. Returning Anew

**A/N: Before the chapter starts, I would just like to thank Aadidoestfp for leaving that nice review on the last chapter. It just really made my day. Anyway, back to the story.**

* * *

After flying for almost 4 hours, Mei couldn't contain her curiosity anymore. She stood up from her seat and slowly made her way towards Max, who was sitting on one of seats and reading something.

Though much of the trip had been in silence, it hadn't been an uncomfortable one. They had simply sat and minded their own business, with an occational exchange here and there.

"Uhm, Max?" Mei carefully adressed him. Max quickly held up a finger and adjusted something on his device, before looking up at her.

"Yeah?" He asked, as he put down the book in his hand.

"You're sure you can't tell me where we're going?" Mei tried.

Max brielfy chuckled before looking up at her with a slightly apologetic look. "I'm sorry, but no. Although if I'm correct, we won't have to wait much longer." He then said.

"Fine." Mei responded with a small sigh.

Max looked at her for a few seconds, before he turned towards the top of the ship. "Athena?" He then asked. "How long do you estimate the trip will last from here on out?"

"Around 15 minutes, Maximilian." Athena responded immediately. Max quickly shook his head before turning back to Mei.

"Is that fine?" He then asked, and after a few seconds of consideration, Mei nodded.

"Good." Max said. The pair then just stood in silence for a few seconds, until Max asked "Anything else?"

"What are you reading?" Mei asked. Even though she was slightly curious, she mostly did it to keep the conversation going.

"Oh, this?" Max asked, seemingly a little surprised over her interest in his reading. "It's called _Being and Nothingness_." He then answered, as he showed her the front of the book. It looked very old, perhaps pre-crisis, and it was incredibly simple, with just the title and _Sartre_ , likely the author's name, with a background of a sunset over an old looking city.

"Huh, I've never heard of it before." Mei commented.

"I don't blame you." Max then said and Mei looked at him, slightly confused. "It's all the way back from 1943." He then elaborated, and Mei's eyes suddenly opened wide.

"That's almost 150 years ago!" She exclaimed, and Max simply nodded.

"Yeah, but this version is from 2033. Even then, physical books from before the crisis can be pretty hard to dig up." Max then said, and Mei nodded. She knew that very well.

"... Well, what is it about? It sounds very unique." Mei then carefully asked. However, instead of answering, Max's expression became one of uncertainty.

After a few seconds, he finally answered. "To be honest, I don't think it's something I can quickly summarize. It's the main work behind an entire philosophical belief, after all."

"... Which?" Mei carefully asked.

"Existentialism." Max casually answered, before adding "The atheistic version, to be precise."

"Okay yeah, I can hear it can be difficult to summarize." Mei responded. Max just smiled at her before saying "Well, when we get back, you can just ask if you're ever curious."

"I'll remember that." Mei answered and briefly smiled at Max, who smiled back, before she went over and sat back down on her seat.

* * *

After about 10 minutes of further flying, Athena came with an unexpected message.

"Maximilian..." She started, and Max once again slightly shook his head, before looking up from his book. "I am unable to determine a place within the area itself that is stable or has room enough for a safe landing. Therefore, I will set you down a couple of meters away from the entrance."

"Alright." Max simply responded.

A small click sounded over the intercom, signaling Athena was done speaking. Max then put his book down on his seat before he turned towards Mei.

"We're almost there, so I suggest you start putting your coat on." He said, and Mei nodded.

"What about you?" She asked as she stood up.

"One second." Max then said, before he quickly dissapeared into the storage compartment of the ship. After a short minute, Mei, now with her winter coat on, saw Max reappear with a familiar white coat on.

"Isn't that Angela's?" Mei curiosly asked.

"This?" Max asked, as he looked down at the coat. "Yeah, it is. I asked to burrow it, since I didn't expect to go somewhere like this, so I didn't pack any of my winter clothing." He then quickly explained.

Mei quickly examined Max, before noting "Well, despite you being almost a head taller than her, it actually fits you quite well."

"Thanks." Max simply thanked.

With all of that out of the way, the pair walked over to the side of the dropship, as it decended through the clouds. However, once they were through the clouds, the white light didn't stop, as snow began to swirl around outside the window.

"Snow?" Mei rhetorically asked out loud.

They finished their decend rather quickly, and there was no impactful _thump_ or anything, since the dropship just softly sank into the snow. The door opened, revealing a rather large field of just pure snow. But there was something, about 30 meters in front of them.

It was a large metal door, etched into the side of a wall of snow and ice.

Mei's eyes slowly opened wide. She turned towards Max and in a voice with both uncertainty and nervousness, she asked "... Is this...?" She couldn't find the words.

However, instead of answering her with words, Max just gave her an encouraging smile. He then stepped out of the dropship and began to make his way towards the metal door.

Mei stood behind, not knowing whether she wanted to follow him or not. Eventually, she shook her head and quickly caught up with him. They walked the rest of the short way in silence, until they reached the door.

Mei just stood and stared at the door, which seemed so much larger and more imposing than she remembered. Then it suddenly began to twitch, and as Mei instinctively took a step back, it glided open with a few rusty sounds.

Confused, she turned towards Max, who was standing at a keypad with his wristwatch out.

He then walked over to her side, but instead of taking the first step like before, he instead just made a gesture, inviting her inside.

Mei looked at him with great uncertainty but Max just gave her an encouraging nod, as he kept his arm out towards the inside of the base.

She looked back to the dark room in front of her, before taking a deep breath. She then took a step inside, and Max returned his arm to behind his back.

Mei slowly took a few more steps, until she was a few meters inside the entrance area.

Sensing everyone was inside, the door began to close, and after a few seconds of more rust sounds, the area was unexpectedly plunged into complete blackness.

Surprised over the sudden darkness, Mei instinctively reached around her, until her gloved hands suddenly touched the coat Max was wearing.

He quickly put a hand over hers, before reaching into his pockets and pulling out something.

"Here." Mei could hear him say, before she felt something being placed in her hand. A flashlight.

She quickly turned it on and flashed around the room with the slightly blue light. After calming herself, she turned back to Max, who, to her surprise, wasn't carrying a flashlight.

"Where's yours?" She curiosly asked.

With a slightly amused smile, Max turned his head slightly and tapped his infrasonic emitters.

"Oh yeah. Forgot about that." Mei admitted, with a slightly embarassed voice.

Max just briefly chuckled, before returning to looking around the area. There wasn't anything of interest, just a few boxes and crates, so he turned towards the gateway into the rest of the base.

"Whenever you're ready." Max said in an incredibly low voice, before turning towards the gateway.

"Oh... right." Mei just responded, as she suddenly remembered where she was. She suddenly felt her uncertainty and nervousness return, and stronger, but she wouldn't turn back.

After a few deep breaths, she also turned towards the gateway. With slow and careful steps, she started walking towards it, with Max following closely behind.

The corridor was wide, but also dark due to the missing lights, so Mei made her way slowly throught it.

After just a few seconds of walking, they suddenly entered a large room, which was also completely dark. As Mei looked around with the flashlight, she recognized the room almost immediately. It was the recreational room.

In the middle stood a couple of coutches, all pointed in the direction of a TV she was sure didn't work anymore. In the corner to her right was a small mini kitchen, and there were several decayed posters along the frozen walls.

Completely forgetting Max was behind her, Mei carefully took a few steps inside. As she walked closer to the coutches, and the table in front of them, she saw something lying on the table.

She slowly walked closer until she stood right next to the table. She pointed her flashlight down at it, and finally saw what it was. It was a couple of crude drawings of things like machinery or animals.

Curios, she slowly bent down and picked one up. It was a drawing of some sort of yeti, with a big smile and a thumbs-up.

After looking at it for a few seconds, Mei saw something in the corner of the drawing. A signature. _Joseph W. Adams_ it read.

Mei got a sad smile on her face, as she suddenly remembered the fact that Adams often used to draw pictures in his spare time. Most of them weren't of that high quality, but Mei had stil found them cute, a decription Adams wasn't fond of.

Still with her slightly sad smile, Mei gently put the frozen paper back down on the table, among all the others, before she looked around again.

This time, her eyes fell on the console right next to the coutches. She instantly remembered it, and went over to it.

She carefully tried to turn it back on, but nothing happened. There was truly no power.

As she stood and remembered how she had used this very console to make the last entry in her digital diary, the entry that had saved her, she heard something from the table.

When she turned towards it, she saw Max kneeling down in front of it while holding some of the drawings in his hands. However, he looked more like he was looking for something IN them, rather than the pictures themselves.

Noticing her eyes on him, Max quickly turned towards her, and said "Don't mind me."

Mei simply nodded before retuning to the console. Out of curiosty and stubborness, she once again tried to turn it back on. Nothing happened.

She let out a small sigh before returning to the rest of the room. There were two exits besides the one they had come from, but what caught her eye was a small chair in the corner of the room. There was something lying in it, but she couldn't see what it was.

She made her way over to it, and once she did, she saw it was a book. Like everything else, it was slightly frozen, but Mei picked it up and carefully flipped through the pages anyway.

It was filled with handwriting, notes and some pages had parts scribbled over. After about one third of the way through, it suddenly stopped and there was no more writing. From what Mei could see, it was mostly about cryogenics and the different scientific parts of it.

She suddenly got a suspicion, and to confirm it, she closed the book and looked at the front of it. It was covered in frost, so Mei carefully ran her covered hand over it. Once the frost was gone, a title appeared: _Cryogenics in the end of the 21. Century._

Mei slowly lowered her eyes down, until they landed on the author's name: _Ernesto Torres_.

As she carefully flipped through the written pages again, Mei could now recognize Torres' unique handwriting, as well as a few sketches here and there.

She slowly put the book back down on the chair, as she remembered Torres mentioning his wish to one day publish a book with all of his knowledge.

Mei's smile saddend a bit further. Another thing killed in the cryopods.

After a few seconds, she turned back towards the two exits. She could remember that one of them lead to the laboratory, while the other connected to the expedition leader, Opara's, quarters and the primary kitchen.

She briefly considered where to go, before deciding on the captains quarters and the kitchen. She turned her flashlight towards the correct exit, and slowly began making her way down it.

As she walked through the frozen corridor, Mei could hear the light footsteps of Max behind her. It gave her a small amount of comfort to know that he was there.

They eventually reached the kitchen, and it was actually in really good shape. Apart from the frost that was present everywhere, not much had changed. The counter was clean, the fridge was still closed, and none of the cabinets looked like they had sustained any injury.

Out of pure curiosty, Mei walked over to the fridge and tried to open it. It was completely frozen, and after a couple of futile attempts, she had to admite defeat. It wouldn't budge

However, after she looked around at the counter, she saw something. A bottle.

Once she'd picked it up, she could quite easily make out the etiquette on its side. It was a bottle of _Coulant Cœur_ cognac. And on the side, a small note hung. Mei leaned in a bit closer to read it: _Property of Raphael Jonathan MacReady. Hands off!_

The note almost immediately caused a smile in Mei. MacReady had always been very protective of his drinks, and he even used his full name and declared them as his property.

With a bit of a brightend mood, Mei put the bottle back on the counter.

After a few seconds of looking at the kitchen, she turned around and continued on. After a few seconds, she heard Max's footsteps catch up with her.

Still with her flashlight in front of her, Mei continued on through the hallways, until she reached a closed door with the inscription ' _Captains Quarters_ '.

She quickly tried to put the code into the keypad, and after a few seconds, the door started to move. With some slow and uneven movement, as well as some rather loud noises, the door finally opened.

Once Mei stepped inside, she saw that the room only consisted of a table with a few computers on it and some shelves with either books or photos.

Mei first walked over to the shelves, where she began to recognize the different pictures. They were all from different occations at the station, like Christmas or the different birthdays.

She stood for a second and reminisced over all the memories the framed pictures brought back. Good times, with her old friends. In that moment, she realized she would have loved to introduce them to her new friends. Like Angela, Winston and most of all, Max.

A small amount of sadness appeared under her smile, as she turned away from the pictures and towards the computers on the desk.

She quickly tried turning them on, but nothing happend. As expected.

As Mei stood and looked at the frozed desk, and all the things on it, she saw something hanging from the computer. She reached out, and recognized it as a pair of dog-tags.

 _Lt. Maurice Opara_ they read. As Mei held them, she remembered Opara had been a member of Overwatch's military unit before its scientific. He'd told about how how he briefly commanded his own unit, and it was because of that, he was chosen as the leader for this operation.

Mei shut her hands around the dog tags tightly and held them up against her chest, as she also closed her eyes tightly.

She just stood like that for a second, as she felt a slight sting in her eyes. She closed her hands and eyes even tighter, before suddenly feeling something on her shoulder.

When she turned around to look, she saw Max's hand on her shoulder. He briefly gave her an encouraging smile, before letting go of her shoulder.

As Mei returned to the dog tags, she didn't want to just leave them here in the frost. But she knew they would be too heavy in her pockets for her to continue.

With a small sigh, she turned towards Max, and extended the hand with the dog tags to him. He took them, and after looking at them for a few anxious seconds, he looked back up at her and nodded, before putting them in his pocket.

With a thankful nod, Mei turned back to the computers. She quickly wiped some of the frost off the screen, before slowly walking back to the exit.

Still with her flashlight in hand, Mei began to make her way back, with Max close behind. After a short walk, they once again found themselves in the recreational room.

Mei briefly stood and looked around the room again, before she moved over to the other hallway.

As she made her way through it, she stopped when she arrived at another closed door. After entering the right code, the door began to twitch and slowly open.

Like the door to Opara's office, it took some time and noise, but the door eventually opened, revealing the laboratory.

On four tables around the room, the best lab equipement Overwatch could make stood and was, like everything else, frozen beyond repair.

However, once she stepped inside, Mei noticed something on the table closest to her. On the table, a pair of glasses were lying.

Mei carefully picked them up, and through the frost-covered edges, she managed to make out the name: _Edward Arrhenius_.

As she put the glasses back on the table, Mei remembered that Arrhenius used almost all of his time in the lab. Even when they had free-time, he would still voulentarily stay and do experiments.

She slowly began to circle around the room, as Max waited in the door-frame. None of the equipment worked, and no datapads were readable, due to the frost.

Mei let out a sigh, as she realized that, whatever Arrhenius, or anyone else, had been doing in here, would forever stay here.

With a small shake of her head, Mei returned to the door. Max quickly made room for her to get out, but once she entered the hallway, she froze and looked down it.

There was only one room left, and even though she wanted to see it, Mei's anxiety still crept up on her.

She quickly shook off the worst of her fear, before she started making her way down the hallway, towards the cryopod room.

After a short walk, that had felt like an eternity, Mei finally entered the dreaded room. The wall to her right was completely bare, just frost, but to her left, the cryopods stood.

With heavy steps, Mei slowly made her way towards the pods. As she approached, the one closest to her came to life, showing Torres' name and deceased status.

Mei immedaitely stopped, and just looked at it. Slowly the other pods also glowed to life, showing the name and stopped heartbeats of the crew, as well as filling the room with a beeping sound.

Once some time had passed, Mei wasn't sure how much, she walked over to Opara's pod. The others slowly turned off until it was only Opara's that displayed anything.

Mei slowly and carefully placed a hand on the foggy widow on the pod, before suddenly feeling a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure?" Max's voice calmly asked.

Mei just nodded with determination, and Max retracted his hand.

After a few deep breaths, she moved her hand right and wiped away the fog.

Mei immediately took a small step back and closed her eyes tightly. As she tried to hold her emotions back, the other pods began to flicker back to life again.

Mei slowly opened her eyes and looked at the other pods. Knowing what was inside Opara's pod was also inside the others, her emotions became too much.

She stepped backwards, until her back hit the object in the middle of the room. She then quickly sunk down, covered her eyes and began to lightly sob.

As she felt the warm tears against the cold air, she heard something next to her. She slowly looked up, only to see Max had sat down next to her.

"It's okay." He simply said in a warm voice. "Take your time."

Mei just nodded before returning to looking down at the floor. As she continued to sob, she felt something on her shoulder. She didn't need to look to know that Max had placed his arm around her shoulders.

They just sat like that for a few minutes, Mei's light sobs and the beeping from the pods being the only noises in the world right there.

Then, Mei finally looked up. Her eyes were slightly red, but she had stopped crying.

Max just gave her a smile, before he stood up and walked over to Opara's pod.

"Opara's?" He asked, in a low and careful voice.

"Yeah." Mei answered, as she just kept sitting.

With his hands in his pockets, Max turned back towards Mei and just waited for her to be ready.

After a couple of more seconds, Mei quickly wiped away the tears and walked over to the pod. As she stood and looked at Max, he unexpectedly reached into his pockets. After a little bit of searching, he pulled out Opara's dog tags and handed them to Mei.

At first, she just started at them. But after Max quickly nodded at her, she took them and turned back towards the pod.

She gently put the dog tags on the floor in front of the pod, before she closed her eyes and hands.

She stood in front of the pod like that for a while. Until she finally opened her eyes and looked at the other pods, as her expression saddend slightly.

With slow steps, she walked over to MacReady's pod, and put a hand on it.

"One second." Max unexpectedly said, and Mei turned towards him with slight confusion. He reached inside his jacket, and after a few seconds, pulled out the _Coulant Cœur_ bottle.

Mei just looked at it in disbelief, before turning her gaze back to Max. He simply smiled back to her, before opening his jacket to her, revealing one of Adams' drawings, Torres' book and Arrhenius' glasses.

Mei just kept staring in disbelief. She eventually turned back to Max, before suddenly hugging him tightly.

"Thank you." She simply said, as she kept hugging him. Though it took a few seconds, Max eventually returned the hug.

After hugging for a couple of seconds, the two eventually let go of each other. Max handed Mei the items, and she slowly began to move around and place them.

Once all the items were in front of the correct pod, Mei walked into the middle, and repeated what she'd done in front of Opara's pod.

As she stood like that, no one moved a muscle. Max stood by her side and was quiet, as was the room.

After a couple of minutes, Mei slowly opened her hands and eyes. She looked at the pods, before looking up at Max, a small but still slightly sad smile on her face.

Wordlessly, she nodded at him and he quickly nodded back. They then slowly turned around and walked out of the room.

Sensing no one was in the room anymore, the pods went silent and the lights turned off.


	27. Reactions

The dropship gently touched down inside the hangar of Watchpoint: Gibraltar, with all the light coming from the early noon sun.

After some steam was let out of the system, the dropship opened the hatch on the side and Mei stepped out, only to be greeted by Winston.

"Welcome back!" The large gorilla greeted, as he approached the dropship.

Mei's face immdiately brightend up with a smile, fueled by newfound appreciation, before she almost ran down to the edge of the hatch.

"Thanks, Winston!" She exclaimed, as she hugged him tightly. Tighter than what Winston was used to from her, anyway.

The large gorilla returned the hug with his left arm, before he turned his attention back to the opening, where Max now appeared, with a white coat over his arm and a small bag over his other shoulder.

"What did you do to her?" He asked jokingly, as he nodded down to Mei.

"I merely gave her opportunity to conclude some unfinished business." Max humbly responded, as he began to also make his way down to Winston.

Upon hearing his voice, Mei suddenly became aware that she was still hugging Winston. She quickly let go of him, as she felt her blood rush to her cheeks.

"It was her who actually took the initiative and helped herself." Max then said, once he reached the two of them.

"As humble as ever." Winston commented, which earned him a slight chuckle from Max.

"Perhaps." He admitted with a small but wry smile. "But she did the most." He then said.

Mei just sent him a small smile, which he gladly returned, but Winston just sighed.

"Well, it looks like it'll take more than just me to make you accept the praise you deserve." The gorilla commented, but Max just shrugged.

With a wave of his hand, Winston invited the pair to walk with him, and they happily obliged.

"So, how was the trip?" He asked, as they began to make their way through the white corridors.

"You aren't going to ask where we went?" Mei curiosly asked, from her position in between Max and Winston.

"No." The gorilla simply answered. "Almost everyone is in the rec room, so I'll just let you explain when we get there."

"Okay." Mei simply responded.

"I will let you know though..." Winston started, and both Mei and Max looked at him. "A few were shocked when they heard that you had left, Max, but nearly everyone was surprised when they heard you'd gone with him, Mei." Winston told the duo.

Max simply got a thoughtful expression on his face, as Mei asked "How shocked?"

"There were a few 'What?' and 'Excuse me?'s, but most of it was just them, staring in disbelief at each other." Winston told.

"Really?" Mei asked.

"Well, truth be told, I personally don't think it was that fact that someone had left with Max, but that it was you." Winston hypothesised.

"Me?" Mei just kept asking.

"The others might not have known of our little arrangement..." Max was now the one to talk, and Mei turned to him. "And besides that, they probably wouldn't expect someone as quiet and careful as you to be the one to go on an alone-trip with an almost stranger."

Mei shifted her gaze to the hall in front of her, as she began to think about what Max had said. It made sense, yet for some reason, she hadn't really considered that.

"Who had the most emotional reactions?" Max casually asked Winston, as they continued on.

"Hm... I would probably have to say Genji, Lucio and Fareeha. Why?" Winston asked in a thoughful voice.

"Just curios." Max responded with a small smile.

Winston let out a sigh over the enigma that was called Max. Most people were quite easy for Winston to understand, at the very least on a fundemental level, but Max seemed to know how to give off the exact signals he wanted. Which made sense, now that Winston thought about it. He was a psychologist, and as such, an expert in those sorts of signals.

"Do you mind if I part here?" Max suddenly asked, shaking Winston out of his thoughts.

"Why?" Mei asked.

"I need to deliver this back to Angela..." Max explained as he held up the white coat. "... and I also need to write some things down, before they slip my mind." Max finished explaining.

Winston looked at Mei, letting her decide.

"Sure, go on ahead." Mei eventually answered.

"Thanks." Max quickly responded, before quickly darting off down a sideway, towards the personal rooms.

Winston and Mei stood for a second and looked at Max's dissapearing figure, as the climatologist noted "He really knows what he's doing."

"He does indeed." Winston just agreed without much thought, before he began to walk towards the rec room with Mei.

They continued the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, neither party having anything to say for now.

After a short while, the door to the rec room finally entered view, and Mei suddenly felt an unexpected feeling: Nervousness.

Winston apparently felt her nervousness, becuase he turned to her a few meters away from the door, and asked "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah." Mei quickly answered, but it was not hard to hear it was a lie.

"Don't worry." Winston simply reassured her. "If you feel like it's becoming too much, just say so. I'm sure they'll understand."

"You're right." Mei simply responded. They were her friends after all. They deserved to know what had happened.

With a deep breath, Mei walked over to the door and it opened itself, revealing the room was packed with everyone.

At the bar, Lucio was serving Angela, Genji and Hanzo, Lena was watching some TV with Fareeha, while Torbjorn, Reinhardt and McCree were sitting at a table, different drinks in hand, discussing something. 76 was nowhere, as expected.

Mei just stood for a second, until Lucio noticed her from his position behind the bar.

The brazillain DJ immediately froze when his eyes fell on her, something Angela and Hanzo clearly noticed. His face then formed a giant grin, as he exclaimed "Well, look who's back!"

As he vaulted over the bar, all other eyes briefly turned to him, before they landed on Mei.

"Mei?" Genji asked, as Lena exclaimed "There you are!"

"Where were you?" Reinhardt asked with a large grin, before McCree finally joined the greetings with a sly grin and a casual "You kept us waiting. Not nice."

Mei just smiled. When Lucio reached her, he immediately hugged her, and even though it wasn't that meaningful or tight, Mei still appreciated it, after she came over her initial shock.

Lucio quickly let go and a small circle quickly formed around Mei, with Lucio, Genji and Lena in the front and Angela and Reinhardt in the back.

"So, are you finally going to let us in on where you were?" Lena excitedly asked.

Slowly but surely, Mei realized that all eyes were on her, and she once again felt her blood rush to her cheeks, as she mumbled "Should we... take a seat first? If it's not too much trouble, I'm a little... exhausted."

"Oh, sure!" Lucio answered. He then quickly scanned the room, before exclaiming "Let's go for the coutch."

"... Sure." Mei just answered.

As she, Lucio and Lena went over and sat on the coutch, everyone else quickly found a chair, either at the bar or at a table, and brought it to the area around the coutch.

Amidst all the ruckus, Angela ended up next to Winston, and she asked in a low voice "Max?"

"In his room." Winston quickly answered. He then asked "Is it about your coat?"

Angela didn't answer.

Once everyone had managed to find room around the coutch, all eyes once again fell on Mei, and Genji asked what was surely on everyone's mind.

"So... where were you?" The cyborg ninja asked, as he sat and leaned up against the back of the chair.

Mei took a quick glance around, before taking a deep breah.

"We... I, returned to Ecopoint: Antarctica, with Max." She finally answered. As expcted, almost everyone's eye widend at the revelation.

"You..." Lena began to ask, before just trailing off.

"I... what did you do there?" Reinhardt was now the one to ask, in a comforting voice. Almost like a grandpa.

Mei slowly began to tell what had happened there. Her exploration of the dark base, her returned memories and new realizations, and when she returned the items to their rightful owners at the cryopods, with Max's help. Though she mostly told about the physical things, not really her emotions.

"But... I'm just glad Max was there." Mei finished her tale. The room was then filled with a silence, until Lena finally spoke up.

"Why?" Was her simple question.

"Well, if he hadn't been there, I would've likely not dared setting foot inside the base." Mei started, with a small, but for some reason sad, smile. "But it's more just that... he somehow understood. He knew what I needed to do, and he knew where he needed to push and where to encourage. I..."

"Excuse me." Angela suddenly exclaimed out into the room. Everyone's eyes briefly turned to her, as she quickly got up from her chair and hastily walked out.

Everyone's eyes briefly lingered on the door where Angela had dissapeared, before Fareeha spoke.

"What do you mean by 'pushing' you?" She asked, and everyone returned back to Mei.

"Well, he never told me where we were going on the way there." Mei answered.

"He didn't?" Genji asked her.

"No. Either he was reading a book, or we just chatted about small things. I even asked, yet he never let up where we were going." Mei elaborated. She had completely forgotten everyone's eyes were on her.

A quick silence filled the room, until Lena was once again the one to break it.

"If you don't mind me asking..." Lena started in a voice that was unusually careful for her. Mei turned to her.

"What exactly was it he understood?" She carefully asked.

"Oh..." Mei started. She hadn't anticipated that question, so it took her a little while to think of an answer. She knew how she felt, of course, but putting it into words was the hard part.

"Well..." She slowly started. "I think I just needed... closure."

"Closure?" Fareeha almost immediately asked.

"Yeah... I'm thankful beyond words for your rescue, but I think you just pulled me away and such so quickly, I just... didn't have a chance to make peace with what had happened." Mei explained.

Everyone gathered aound her got a slighty guilty expression on their faces- However, it was those on the team that had rescued her, that had the most guilty expressions.

"I... suppose we didn't really consider that." Winston admitted in a voice that suddenly dropped a lot of guilt on Mei herself.

"No no no, it's not that!" She quickly apologized. "I'm not saying it's your fault, I don't think you could've done it any other way. I'm just saying it was an unfortunate consequence of that."

A small smile appeared on the faces of everyone around the table.

"Thanks." Winston thanked her. Mei just smiled back at him.

* * *

Angela hastily walked through the corridors of the base, until she reached the personal rooms.

She found the door to Max's room and knocked. Yet when she did, she immediatly regretted it. Why was she even here?

There was no turning back now, when Max's voice sounded from inside the room. "Come in." He calmly said.

Angela stood for a few seconds and took a deep breath, before she opened the door. Once she entered, she saw Max walking around with a notepad and pen in hand, while humming a tune she could faintly recognize.

"Oh, Angela." Max said, once he saw her. He quickly reached behind his ears and did something to his emitters, before putting the notepad down on the table.

"I have your coat here, if that's what you're here for." Max casually said. He then reached down to his bed and threw her her coat.

"Oh, thanks." Angela responded when she had caught the coat. She then looked at Max with an unusual look, something Max clearly noticed.

"Something the matter?" He asked.

"You were on that trip with Mei, right?" Angela asked.

"Yeah?" Max responded to the unexpected and quite unusual question.

"And... what happened on your trip?" Angela asked.

Max looked at her for a few seconds, but he eventually relented and told her the whole thing. It was the exact same things as Mei had told, only from his perspective of course.

Once he was done, Angela just sighed. But before Max had a chance to ask, she looked up and asked "And why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh..." Max suddenly exclaimed as he now understood where she was coming from.

"You see, it's not that I didn't want to. But if Mei somehow got the knowledge of where we were going before we took off, it would've not only made the trip harder for her, but I'm also of the belief that it would have made the impact of the trip a lot less... impactful, for lack of better words." He quickly explained.

"I see..." Angela simply responded.

"When Genji was almost killed by his brother, and Overwatch found him..." Max unexpectedly started, and Angela looked up at him. "Did you tell him exactly what was going to happend to him?"

"No." Angela admitted.

"Why?" Max continued.

"Because... then it would've made the entire thing worse for him. He might not have wanted to." Angela responded.

"You see?" Max asked, and Angela nodded as she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." She said, and Max looked at her with slight confusion.

"What for?" He asked.

"For just... explaining it to me." She clarified, even though it didn't clarify much for Max.

"Well... you're welcome." Max just said the only thing that popped into his mind.

Angela just sent him a sweet smile, before she turned around and exited the room.


	28. Getting Back

**A/N: Yes, I'm back. And no, I don't plan on doing anything like that again anytime soon. Truth be told, it actually felt pretty good to write this chapter again, getting back into the characters and all that. Now, there's only really two things I want to say.  
1: This is not going to be a weekly thing anymore. From here on out, I will upload a chapter whenever I feel satisfied with it, not to uphold some poorly-defined deadline. True, this will most likely result in longer times between chapters, but if you're willing to accept that, then the chapters will not only be of better quality (or at least I hope so), and I won't go into any sort of sudden hibernation again.  
2: I also just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who's stuck around during the break, and has come back to continue this journey with me. I also wanted to say a quick thanks for the understanding in why I decided to pause this story. It actually helped quite a lot.  
Okay, enough of me rambling. You're here for more Simple Psychology, and I've got that, so without further ado, let's get right back into it!**

* * *

"Again." Fareeha ordered, as she blocked another hit from Genji.

The cyborg ninja happily obliged, and this time used his left arm to try to land a strike on Fareeha. The egyptian easily blocked it with her arm, somewhat to the dismay of Genji, before lightly pushing it away from her.

"Again." She repeated.

This time, Genji stood and looked at her for a few seconds, contemplating, before he once again tried to hit her with his left fist.

"Again!" Fareeha kept saying, this time more intensely than before.

Genji stood for a single second, before he decided to try something unexpected. He then bent down, before jumping up in the air, while extending his leg and turning around.

Completely unprepared for the kick, Fareeha just stood still, as she felt the hair in front of her face getting pushed away by the tip of Genji's foot.

The cyborg ninja quickly landed from his kick. However, his legs were not prepared to properly catch him, so he stumbled for a few seconds, before finally finding his footing.

"How about that?" He asked with way more confidence than his landing gave him permission to have.

"I'll admit, I wasn't prepared for that." Fareeha admitted, as she let loose from her stance. "But you're not ready to consistantly pull off that sort of stunt. Don't push yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Genji admitted.

The pair then stood for a few seconds and just catched their breaths, before Genji looked up at Fareeha inquisitively.

"Would you say we're done for the day?" He then asked.

"Sure." Fareeha simply responded, with a small shrug from her shoulders.

With a thankful nod, Genji then jumped down from the sparring area and made his way towards the exit.

Once the ninja was gone, Fareeha went over to the soft railing along the sides, and leaned up against it, as she looked out over the empty training area.

"I see your sparring-time is going on as usual." Fareeha suddenly heard a voice say, and she immediately turned towards the source of it.

Stepping out of the sparse shadows, Max walked towards Fareeha with crossed arms and his usual smile.

Ever since his ordeal with Doomfist, Genji had, much to his dismay, needed to slowly train his body back up. And Fareeha had voluntarily offered to do sparring-lessons with him to do so.

"Wanna give it a try?" Fareeha asked, with her thumb pointed back into the area, once she had recovered from the shock.

Max quickly took a look down himself, before he looked back up at Fareeha. "Do you really want to beat up a blind guy?" He jokingly asked.

"You're not blind." Fareeha responded in an equally joking way.

"True." Max admitted with a small shrug. "But I only see in one frame per second. Have you ever tried to play a fighting game that runs at one frame per second?" He then asked, as he made a small gesture with his right arm.

Fareeha sighed, before admitting "You have a point."

She then quickly jumped over the railing, before sitting on it, as she looked up at Max and asked "Well, then what did you come here for?"

"I originally came here to merely observe your practice." Max started, as he shifted his arms so they were behind his back. "However, now it seems a unique opportunity has presented itself. One I would be a fool to pass up."

"And what's that?" Fareeha asked, before grapping the water bottle that stood next to her and drinking nearly half of it.

"An opportunity to talk with you, one-on-one." Max explained.

"I don't know how much I can tell you about that whole traitor-ordeal, that Winston or 76 can't, but I'll try." The egyptian commented, with a small shrug.

"You misunderstand me." Max politely exclaimed, and Fareeha looked up at him with a curious but also slightly annoyed look. "I want to talk about you. To learn about you."

"And what about me intrigues you so much?" Fareeha kept asking, as she leaned back up against the railing.

"Surely the daughter of Overwatch's second-in-command would know a thing or two, as well as having some interesting viewpoints." Max suggested, but as soon as he did, Fareeha looked at him, wide-eyed.

"Where did you learn that...?" She asked, her voice suddenly very cautious and disbelieving.

"As the person tasked with finding a traitor among you, I've been given access to all the files and reports filed in the database over the years. Both things that are available to the public and things that aren't." Max calmly explained. "Interesting stuff." He then commented, seemingly more to himself than Fareeha.

Fareeha looked at him for a few seconds, before she grapped her water bottle and began to walk away.

"The Amaris, Horus and his eye, the uprising..." Max began to say, instead of following after Fareeha. He then turned towards her and finished with "Operation Guardian Dullahan."

Fareeha immediately stopped in her tracks and turned back towards Max, now with a look of anger in her eyes, which the psychologist calmly responded to with "I'm a fast reader."

The egyptian looked at him for a few seconds, before she asked "What the hell do you know of losing someone that important?!" Her voice filled with both anger, but again, carefulness.

"A lot." Max responded. He then turned towards her, and as his smile suddenly vanished, he added "And not just from reading."

The pair stood and looked at each other for a few seconds, Fareeha's expression briefly becoming one of surprise. She then relaxed in her body, and as she looked down at the ground, she almost mumbled "My condolences."

Max just observed her for a few seconds, before said "There are some wounds that are too big for time alone to heal."

The psychologist then slowly walked over to the silent Fareeha, until he reached her and placed his right hand on her shoulder.

"I'm also sorry." He then said. "I was insensitive, and as someone who knows what it's like, it was incredibly stupid of me. Please accept my apology."

Fareeha slowly looked up at him, before saying "That... isn't the worst apology I've ever heard."

Max just smiled as he retracted his hand and placed it behind his back with its left equivalant.

"Well, what did you want to ask about?" Fareeha then asked, seemingly over the slight ordeal.

Max stood for a second and just looked at her. His gaze seemed purposefully locked, while also being deep in thought. Eventually, he broke the silence.

"Forgive me if I step too far again..." He started, as he crossed his arms over his chest. "But I would like to know more about Lt. Amari's untimely death." He asked, in a soft and careful voice.

Fareeha sighed, probably either because Max was still lingering at the subject or because he was now more respectful, Max thought to himself. Regardless, Fareeha leaned up against the wall, as she commented "From the sounds of it, it sounds like you already know more about it than I did at that point."

Max noted that her voice was no longer hostile towards him, but merely inquiering about an apparent inconsistency. He smiled.

"That is true." Max admitted. He then made a gesture towards her with his right hand, as he explained. "But what I perhaps should have clarified, is that I was actually more interested in your... reaction, upon hearing about it?"

Max then let both if his arms down along his sides, as he said in a more serious voice "If it's possible to describe such emotions, that is."

"I'll try." Fareeha responded. She then looked down at the floor for a few seconds, as she seemed to contemplate what the best words to describe it would be.

"Well..." She slowly started. "I suppose the closest comparison I could make, is that of waking up in a hospital room, only to be told that one of your essential limps, like an arm or an eye, have been amputated."

Max slightly tilted his head as he continued listening to Fareeha's explanation with intrigue. He'd had a few patients with similar situations, but none of them had used this analogy before.

"Like, just waking up and finding out that an essential part of you have been taken away, stolen." Fareeha continued. "You could still live on, sure, but you would never really be whole again."

As she stopped, she looked up at Max, awaiting to see his reaction.

"I believe I understand." Max eventually answered. He then straightend his head back up and put his hands behind his back, as he kept looking at Fareeha.

"Anything else?" The egyptian asked.

"Just one more question." Max responded. "If I may be so bold, may I ask how you coped with it at the time?"

Fareeha kept silently looking at Max for a few seconds with a contemplative look.

"I swore that I'd get revenge on the people responsible for her death." She answered with both a dead-serious voice and gaze.

"As far as I remember, it was that Lacroix-assassin that killed her, correct?" Max asked.

"Yes." Fareeha responded, before adding "But also the ones that ordered her to pull the trigger."

"'Talon Command'?" Max asked again.

"Yes." Fareeha responded simply again.

Max just nodded. He then quickly bowed his head, as he said "Thank you for your time." before suddenly walking towards the exit.

As he opened the door, Fareeha was about to return to training, when she noticed Max standing in the doorway, looking at her over his shoulder. After a few thoughtful seconds, he smiled as he said "And I wish you the best of luck."

And with that, Max left Fareeha alone in the training room.

* * *

The hologram flickered to life in the middle of the communication room, and the Speaker looked over to see who would meet him at the other end. His face immediately darkend under the hood, upon seeing a familiar mask.

"Reaper." He said, the distain in his voice clear as day.

"Speaker." Reaper responded, before adding "For someone who dialed me, you sure don't sound enthusiastic."

"I was hoping for either a senior officer or her if I could, but I'll make do with what I have." The Speaker responded, earning him a very displeased look from Reaper.

"The only senior officer in this cesspool of a base is currently unavailable due to a hangover and 'she'..." Reaper said that word with incredible anger. "... never leaves her room. In other words, you're stuck with me."

The Speaker briefly looked down at the floor, and Reaper took the oppertunity to continue.

"And apart from those two, all the other inbeciles here are either completely inexperienced and unusable or not even combatants!" The mercenary then lowered his head and as a shadow fell over his mask, he asked "Tell me, what exactly is the purpose of putting me here?"

The Speaker just kept looking contemplative, so Reaper continued.

"Besides, there's jack-shit to do here! You know that I'm one of the most powerful operatives at your disposal, one of the few able to kill someone from Overwatch without any help. So tell me, why did the, oh so great tacticians and leaders of Command, do the equivalant of throwing a bomb on a barely populated farmhouse?"

The Speaker finally looked up from his comtemplation and looked Reaper right into the eyes.

"It is true that you are one of the most dangerous tools at Command's disposal..." He said, which earned him a somewhat confused glare from Reaper. "... but if you can't keep your bloodlust in check, we'll put you down like the mad dog you are."

"Then tell me the purpose of this." Reaper hissed at the Speaker, who didn't flinch, unlike the communications manager that sat a few meters away from Reaper.

The Speaker looked at him for a few seconds, before he spoke again.

"Patience is a virtue." He slowly said. "And it seems Command has decided to reward you for yours."

Reaper now looked up at him and listend with intrigue.

"They have decided that the time has come." The Speaker continued. "I'm sending you a plan for your next operation, codenamed "Myhtical Hydra", which will entail this entire base. You are to brief the entire base and then commence at soonest possible hour."

Reaper quickly turned his head towards the communications manager, who quickly said "Recieving the file."

The mercenary then quickly nodded, before turning back to the Speaker.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"Apart from you and her, the rest of the base is disposable and you are permitted to use them however you see fit to accompish the mission." The Speaker said.

"My type of mission." Reaper commented. He then turned towards the communications manager, but he was quickly cut off by the Speaker.

"One more thing." The enigmatic figure said and Reaper turned towards him. "Do. Not. Fail us." With those words, the hologram dispersed.

With an annoyed grunt, Reaper turned towards the manager and took the file. As he walked out of the room, he began to read through it.

As he walked through the corridors, he suddenly stopped. He then turned back towards the communications room, and with a smirk under his mask, he whispered "You are a bunch of clever madmen. I like it."


	29. Possible Paths

**A/N: Well, it didn't take long for life to interfere. I know I said that I would take as much time as needed with each chapter, but I didn't plan for it to take this long. But if being bedridden with an assortment of illnesses for over a week wasn't enough, I was also away for a couple of days, so it was just a lot of days where I couldn't write.  
On a different note though, the feedback I got on the last chapter, while admittedly quite dissapointing in its quantity, what I did get still encouraged me keep going. So thanks. And let's continue.**

* * *

"Come in" Max absentmindedly answered the knock on the door to his room.

The white door quickly slid open, revealing Winston standing and looking at Max quite curiosly. The psychologist turned his head slightly towards the door to see who his guest was, before he turned it back to the thing on the desk, in front of him.

"What can I do for you?" Max casually asked, as he kept looking at the thing in front of him.

"I just came by to make sure of something." Winston responded, as he walked into the room that Max had slowly but surely made his own.

In several places all over the room, all sorts of books where either placed meticulously next to each other or were more carelessly lying around, either opened on a page or with a bookmark somewhere inside them. Additionally, on his bedside table stood a wierd device Winston didn't initially recognize, but eventually reasoned must be the stand for his glasses.

"Make sure of something?" Max then asked.

"Yeah." Winston confirmed. The gorilla then turned his attention away from Max's room and over on the psychologist himself. "You see, Genji came by a few minutes ago." He said.

"And what did our recovering cyborg have to say?" Max then asked, somewhat carefreely.

"He told me about something he experienced yesterday." Winston answered. "After his recovery training with Fareeha."

Max suddenly stopped doing what he was doing on the table, which Winston now saw was writing on a notepad. Upon further inspection, the gorilla could see several crumbled pieces of paper lying around on the table.

Max then turned silently towards the gorilla, expecting him to go on.

"You see, Genji told me that, as he was walking back to his quarters after training, he suddenly heard a shout from the training area. But when he returned, he just saw you and Fareeha talking normally." The gorilla told.

"And you're here because you want to know the reason behind that shout." Max said, not asked, and Winston nodded.

Max let out a low sigh, before looking up at the rather large gorilla before him.

"How would you describe Fareeha?" He suddenly asked. "With one-word descriptions?"

Winston looked at Max, rather confused, for a few seconds. But he eventually figured that there had to be a point to it, so he just went along.

"Well, I think I'd describe her as caring..." Winston started, and Max nodded. "Then I'd say... open-minded... perhaps a little stubborn-" "Right." Max suddenly cut him off.

The psychologist then got up from his chair, as Winston looked at him with intrigue.

"'Stubborn' and 'caring', those are the two exact two words I was looking for!" He began explaining.

"I assume you remember the conversations I had with everyone when I first got here?" He then asked, and Winston simply nodded.

"Well, during those, I got the same impression of Fareeha. That she was caring and stubborn. And people who are that, can be prone to put up a facade that they are fine, so others don't have to worry about them. And while it's sometimes good and sometimes bad, I'm personally more of the bad perspective, but that's inconsequencial right here, that does make my job hard, due to the fact that they hide their true emotions." Max explained with quite astonishing speed.

The psychologist then turned towards the window as he continued. "And due to the stubborness, they will try to maintain that facade no matter what. So in order for me to find their true emotions, without completely breaking the facade and possibly their mind in the process, I have to hit them while it's still down and they are emotionally unprepared. And that's what I did."

Max now turned his head towards Winston with an unusual expression on his face. "I was purposefully insensitive about her mother's death in order to see how she really felt about it. I apologized afterwards, of course, but it seems Genji only heard Fareeha's initial reaction and not the following clarification."

Done with his explanation, Max went back to his chair and sat down on it as he awaited Winston's response.

"I... see." The gorilla just said, apparently a tiny bit overwhelmed at the amount of information suddenly dumped onto him. He thankfully quickly recovered and turned towards Max.

"Just one question." Winston said, and Max nodded in anticipation. "Do you think you're going to do something similar in the future?"

Max seemed to need a moment to think about it. After a few seconds, he answered "If there is a more ethical alternative, then know I will always take it."

Winston nodded and exhaled with relief. However, to his surprise, Max continued. "Of course, those alternatives are often rather inneffective compared to the... quicker methods."

Winston now suddenly turned to Max with a little bit of caution, as he continued.

"Though I think I'm technically, and legally, working independently, I have allowed myself to fall under the supervision and command of you, Winston. If you ever wish it, I would trust your judgment and morals, and use some of those quicker methods." Max explained.

Winston just sat and looked at him for a few seconds until he finally mustered something to say "You would actually be willing to..."

"Of course, I have my own moral code." Max quickly added. "But like I said, I will trust in your judgment of the situation and the people in it."

Winston just kept looking at Max in disbelief, as he continued "But you actually know how to...?"

Max sighed and looked over at the window and the blue sky beyond it. "One way of phrasing my work is 'healing the wounds of the mind'. While not 100% factually correct, it does sum it up pretty good."

The psychologist then turned his eyes towards Winston and they had a weird expression in them. "However, in order to be as effective as possible as a 'healer', I also learned excatly how those wounds are inflicted. Of course, I have very little experience with them, but still."

"I..." Winston started, seemingly not being able to find any words to respond to Max.

"I-" Winston then started, but he was abrubtly cut off, when Torbjorn's voice suddenly sounded over the speakers.

"Everyone, come to the communications room. I have... something, you need to see." It said, before it ended as abrubtly as it had started.

Winston immediately got up from his chair and began to walk over towards the door, when he heard Max's voice behind him.

"Should I come?" He asked.

"He did say everyone." Winston casually responded. Max just shrugged in response, before getting up from his chair and walking out of the room with Winston.

* * *

The door to the communications station opened and Winston stepped inside, followed by Max, only to be met with almost everyone else standing and waiting

"There you are, big guy. We were waiting!" Lena jokingly exclaimed, as she turned towards the large gorilla.

"Sorry, sorry." Winston quickly apologized with the same sincerity as Lena. "But we just had to finish a rather important conversation." He then explained.

"What about?" Angela casually asked, following Lena's example and turning towards the duo with crossed arms and a small smile.

Winston quickly turned his eyes back to Max as a small amout of uncertainty appeared in them. Max quickly looked back, before turning towards everyone else gathered.

"We were merely discussing possible paths for the future." The psychologist said with his hands folded behind his back.

Everyone either just nodded or turned back towards the console at the opposite end of the room.

Winston quickly sent Max a thankful look, before he started to approach the gathered group. But instead of following him, Max casually began to walk over to the corner of the room, where a small box and an unattended and inactive console stood.

"So, you said you had something to show?" Winston asked Torbjorn, who was still seated at the console, as he approached him.

"Not show, unfortunately." Torbjorn somberly responded.

"What do you mean?" Winston asked back, now in front of the entire group.

"I was just monitoring the comms, when..." The Swedish dwarf said, before turning towards the console and pressing a few buttons. "This... appeared."

Winston was about to ask what he meant, when a sudden scrambled sound sounded in the room, which was quickly followed by two longer scrambled sounds.

"What is this?" The gorilla asked, as his head was turned towards the roof.

"As much as it pains me to say, I don't know." Torbjorn responded. "I've tried running it through all sorts of decrypting programs, but nothing comes up. Just more scrambled noise."

"Hmm..." Winston said, seemingly grumbling over how to approach this mystery.

As everyone fell into a thoughtful silence, trying to figure these sounds out, Angela casually turned towards Max. The psychologist was kneeling down in front of the box, seemingly contemplating something.

Angela slowly began to walk over to him, when he suddenly moved his hand up to his devices behind his ears. He knelt like that for a few seconds, before shaking his head and removing his hands.

"Max?" Angela asked as she slowly approached him from behind.

"Gah!" Max exclaimed, seemingly not having noticed Angela had approached him, as he quickly stood up and turned towards her.

"What are you thinking?" She asked, deciding to ignore his usual case of distance from reality.

After quickly shaking his head, Max answered. "About the sounds?" He asked. Angela nodded.

Max lifted up his left hand and looked at what he was holding. Angela followed suit and saw he was holding an old paper document.

"I think I might have something." He responded as he returned his gaze to the Swiss doctor. "But due to... safety, I have to take a bit of a roundabout way."

Angela was about to ask what on earth he meant by that, when Max suddenly pulled out a pen from one of his pockets and went over to the console.

The psychologist quickly sat down in the chair in front of it and placed the paper on the metal desk in front of him. He then just sat completely quietly, apparently listening to the continuing sounds.

Angela quickly moved behind him, but as she was about to ask, Max suddenly took a firm grip around his pen before suddenly piercing the paper with it. And then he did it again. And again, but this time, he also drove it forward, creating a rift in the paper.

The Swiss doctor just stood behind him and observed until he stopped as suddenly as he had started. He then turned the paper around, and after looking at it for a few seconds, he sighed and ran his finger along the holes he'd made.

As Max began to scribble things down on the paper, while continuing to run his finger along the holes, Angela noticed something. Max was blind, yes, but this was the first time she had actually seen him act as such.

A small smile appeared on Angela's face as her gaze unconciously shifted from the paper in front of him to Max himself.

"Whatcha doing?" The voice of Lena suddenly asked behind Angela, and the Swiss doctor was now the one to be surprised.

She quickly turned around, only to see everyone's attention had slowly turned in the direction of them.

"Testing a theory..." Max answered Lena's inquiery without taking his eyes off the paper.

"Aaand, done!" Max exclaimed, before suddenly standing up and putting the pen down.

Both Angela and Lena curiosly peered over his shoulders to see what was written on the paper, both with pen and holes.

* * *

 _E .  
 _A . -  
 _S ...  
 _E .  
H ...  
E .  
L .-..  
P .-.  
P .-.  
L .-..____

* * *

"Easehelppleh?" Lena tried to pronounce what Max had written.

"You may want to put the last two letters in the beginning." Max suggested as he leaned back against the console so he could have eye contact with everyone in the room.

"Please... help." Angela said.

"Correct." Max quickly acknowledged. He then turned his attention out towards everyone else. "Morse code. Sounds like someone wants your help." He quickly explained to all those wondering.

"It sure does..." Winston just mumbled. The large gorilla then fell into a thoughtful silence, which Hanzo quickly broke.

"What do you want to do? It could likely be trap." The archer stoically asked.

"It could be." The answer sounded, but to everyone's surprise, it came from Max. "But the way I see it, you have a choice: You can go and if it's a trap, it will be sprung, but if it's real, then you'd be able to help someone. Or you could stay behind. If you do that, you negate the risks of the trap, but you could also potentially leave someone asking for help behind."

"I dunno 'bout the rest of you, but it sounds a bit like you're trying to push us in one direction." McCree commented Max's speech.

"I am most certainly not!" Max responded rather passionately. He then quickly took a deep breath before ellaborating. "I am merely providing Winston, no, all of you, with an analysis of the situation so you'll be able to make the best possible choice."

As he said that, Max sent Winston an unusual gaze, but before anyone had a chance to say anything, he looked back at McCree with his usual observing look.

"... Where did the signal come from?" Winston finally asked.

"Arizona. Somewhere around the Grand Canyon, if I'm not too rusty." Torbjorn thoughfully answered. He then quickly added "The message wasn't hidden in any special comm channels, so in that regard, it does seem genuine."

"Very well." Winston simply said.

There was a small and rather uncomfortable silence as Winston thought things over. The gorilla then opened his eyes and turned towards the gathered group.

"Lena, Mei, Hanzo, Fareeha and Angela. You all go get ready to head to Arizona. I will come up with a plan of action from here and send it once you're under way. And Lena..." Winston asked, and the young brit tilted her head. "On your way, go get 76 ready as well."

"You got it!" Lena responded. With a quick thumbs-up and a perky smile, she quickly dashed out of the room, leaving behind only a faint blue light.

Everyone else who was assigned on the mission also quickly left the room.

"If anyone needs me, I'll be in my lab." Winston quickly exclaimed before he too left the room.

Slowly, everyone remaining also began to leave the room. Eventually, only Max and Genji stood and looked down the sun-lit hallway from the doorway.

"How I wish I could go as well..." Genji remarked with a rather heavy and somewhat sorrowful voice.

"Your body still needs healing." Max quickly remarked back.

"I am well aware." Genji just responded, his voice now just sounding rather tired.

The pair then stood for a few seconds, until Genji turned towards Max.

"Why do you know morse code, by the way?" The cyborg ninja curiosly asked.

"I see through soundwaves, so I just thought it might come in useful someday." Max explained while still looking down the corridor. "Though I will admit, I didn't expect for it to be in this way." He then added with a small grin.

"I understand." Genji simply responded. He then began to walk down the orange-tinted hallway, leaving Max alone.

The psychologist stood for a few seconds, before he pulled out the paper he had written his decoding on.

"Hmm..." Max mumbled while he looked at it, before chucking it away with a shrug and walking away.


	30. Dangerous Territory

**A/N: It seems all the positive reviews left on the last chapter made me go into some sort of overdrive. Or at least, that's the only explanation I can come up with. But no matter what, the next chapter's here. And I also want to say a huge THANKS for all the reviews on the last chapter.**  
 **Now, this chapter might not be the most eventful one, but if I had to keep writing until the next place to end it, it would've just been too much in one chapter, so take it for what it's worth. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

With a loud woosh, the white dropship soared through the skies, while remaining up over where anyone would be able to see them.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Lena enthusiastically asked Angela. The Swiss doctor had been rather quiet during the trip, and now Lena had decided to ask why.

"I was just wondering..." Angela started, and there was an unusual uneasiness in her voice, making both Fareeha and 76 look at her as well. The former from her stand near the window and the latter from his tampering with his pulse-rifle.

"That person who sent us that message..." Angela went on. "I just wondered, why did they send it to us? Why us and not, say, the FBI or something like that?" She finally let out.

"Maybe they're just a fan of us!" Lena responded to try and lightend the rather heavy atmosphere Angela was creating. Which 76 quickly ruined.

"Who on earth would be a fan of what we do?" The old soldier asked the young brit.

Lena immediately turned towards him as she asked "We save people from bad guys! Who wouldn't be fan of us?"

"Saving people..." 76 mumbled to himself. "We do save people. But answer me this, Oxton."

The old soldier suddenly turned towards Lena with both a threatening and battle-weary look. "How do we save those people?"

"By getting rid of those who would hurt them." Lena answered.

"By killing them." 76 sternly corrected her.

"But the people we-" Lena started, but she silenced herself when she felt someone grapping her wrist from behind. She turned around, only to see it was Angela. The Swiss doctor had a look in her eyes that practically said 'Don't bother'."

Lena let out a sigh, and as she relaxed in her body, Angela let go of her wrist.

"I hate to say this..." Fareeha now spoke up. "But I'm with him on this." She said, before turning back towards the window overlooking the white clouds.

"Fareeha..." Lena said, as she looked at the egyptian woman.

"Um, why don't we... wait with this. At least... until we're back?" Mei nervously proposed in an attempt to get rid of the devisive tension in the ship.

"A sensible proposition." Hanzo suddenly interjected from his meditating position in the corner.

The archer then opened his eyes and looked at everyone in the ship, as he added "If you would wait with this bickering, you would be able to answer the call from base, that has been pending for some time now."

"Oh, bloody hell..." Lena exclaimed in a low voice, before she quickly blinked over to the blinking communication station and pressed a button.

"You usually answer immediately. Did something happened?" Winston's voice immediately asked from everywhere inside the ship.

"Oh, no, we were... just talking..." Lena awkwardly answered.

"You don't even need me to tell you that's a lie." Max's voice now suddenly joined Winston's.

"Max?" Angela was now the one to ask. "What are you doing?"

"Acting as a temporary tactical advisor." The psychologist casually answered.

"Do you ever say 'no' when people ask things of you?" Angela jokingly asked. But there was also a small amount of relief in her voice.

"Do you?" Max answered back.

"Touché." Angela responded with a smile.

Max briefly chuckled before he spoke to Winston. "I assume that's all you needed from me?"

"Yes." Winston responded.

"Then I'll take me leave." Max said. But just before he left, he added "And Angela?"

"Yes?" The Swiss doctor responded.

"Don't take any unnecessary risks. Please." The psychologist said, before the sound of a door opening then closing came over the intercom.

Angela quickly chuckled before she went back to her seat. "Are you going to give us the plan now, or are you going to keep us waiting?" 76 then asked, clearly impatient.

"Oh, yes." Winston somewhat clumsily responded. After a small cough, he spoke.

"Since this a hit-and-run, I have decided it would be best if you split up into two teams. Team 1, consiting of Mei and Hanzo, will stay behind with the dropship and guard it. Team 2, consisting of the rest of you, will then make your way through the base as quickly and effienctly as possible, find the target, bring them back, and then take off." The gorilla said, before asking "Any objections."

"Only one." 76 responded.

"I believe it would be a good idea for Oxton to be on Team 1." The old soldier said, before explaining. "Though Mei and Hanzo are capable, I doubt they can hold out against an overwhelming Talon force alone, so it would be a good idea for someone to join them. And if it's Oxton, she can also quickly come to the aid of Team 2, if they end in a dangerous situation."

"A sound idea..." Winston thoughtfully responded to 76's proposal.

There was a quick minute of silence, until Winston's voice once again sounded over the intercom.

"Very well. Lena, you're on Team 1. Everyone, is the plan understood?" He asked.

"Yes!" Everyone immediately responded.

"Good. And one last thing..." Winston said. "Good luck."

With a click, the conversation ended, and as soon as it did, 76 immediately got up from his seat and walked up into the cockpit and looked at one of the glowing, orange boards.

"ETA 15 minutes!" He then shouted out at everyone. "Be ready by then!"

Not waiting for confirmation that they agreed, 76 turned around and walked over to the empty pilot's seat and plumbled down in it, before returning to his rifle.

* * *

The door to the recreational room opened and Max quickly stepped inside and surveyed the area.

In front of the running, but muted TV, Reinhardt, Genji and Torbjorn sat and discussed something Max was out of hearing range of. McCree was nowhere to be seen and Lucio sat at the bar, alone, with a half-empty drink in hand.

With a small sigh, Max turned towards one of the empty couches scattered around the room and sat down in it.

As soon as he had sat down, Max pulled out the piece of paper he had decoded the message on and looked at it with a weird, almost nervous look.

The psychologist sat like that for just a few seconds, before he heard a voice next to him.

"What are you looking at?" The voice asked. Max quickly turned his head, only to see Lucio standing and looking at him with curiosity.

"This." Max simply responded, before handing the paper over to the brazillian DJ.

As Lucio quickly read it through, he sat down on the couch, next to Max, before putting the paper down on the table.

"I see." Lucio simply said at first. He then turned towards Max with his trademark grin and remarked "Good thing we had you around. Otherwise we might not've been able to help."

"Yes..." Max just absentmindedly responded. The brazillian DJ curiosly turned towards him, only to see his eyes were focused squarely on the paper, and his hand was folded over his mouth, clearly deep in thought.

To give him space, Lucio just leaned back in the couch.

" _Mit so wenige Zeit... warum 'Please'?_ " Max mumbled, seemingly not noticing he had shifted back to a language Lucio didn't speak.

" _Warum so höflich...?_ " Max kept mumbling while looking rather intensily at the paper.

Not able to keep his curiosity in check any further, Lucio leaned closer to Max and asked "What are you thinking about?"

Max was silent for a few seconds, seemingly pondering how to respond.

Then, suddenly, he stood up and began to impatiently pace around the room, also garnering the attention of the other three, who turned their heads towards them.

"There's just something that's been nagging me." Max finally explained. "In that message."

"What?" Lucio asked, now also sensing some sort of urgency in Max's impatience.

The psychologist looked like he was about to answer, when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He stood still for a second, before he took a deep breath.

Done calming himself down, Max turned back towards Lucio.

"Please pick up that paper." Max encouraged and Lucio obliged.

"Now, please correct if I'm wrong about any of this..." Max started, before quickly turning towards the other three and adding "You three can join if you'd like."

All three on the couch nodded, and while Torbjorn turned the TV off, Reinardt and Genji turned their entire bodies towards Max.

"That message..." Max started, as he gestured towards the paper in Lucio's hands.

"That was apparently sent by someone who wants to get out of somewhere but can't." Max started, and everyone nodded. "And with what we know, it's likely a prisoner of Talon, correct?"

Everyone nodded again.

"And in order to send such a message, they had to escape their captivity, but since they are unable to leave the facility, perhaps a prison, they sent this request. Am I wrong?" Max continued.

"No, it all makes sense so far." Genji responded.

"Good." Max said. "Now, the message had to be sent from a comm-room. And since it couldn't be sent under supervision, the prisoner must've snuck there and sent it. That means Talon is likely looking for the prisoner while the message was sent."

Everyone nodded again.

"The prisoner knows how to operate a comm-room, so it isn't someone stupid." Max said, as it felt like he was nearing his conclusion. "And if they aren't stupid, they'd know that Talon was looking for them, and as such, they would have minimal time to send the message before they had to hide again."

Max was quiet, before he looked up at everyone in the room.

"Here's what's been bothering me:" He said. "If they knew the message had to be sent as quickly as possible, why did they go through the effort of adding 'Please'? Why not just send 'Help'?"

* * *

"Here we are." 76 said, while the dropship descended from the clouds towards the Grand Canyon. "Get ready." He then ordered, and everyone nodded.

As the dropship neared the Grand Canyon, everyone suddenly saw an open hangar in one of the orange cliffs.

"Athena, take us ín." 76 ordered.

"Understood." Athena simply responded. Then, with some pull inside of it, the dropship went towards the open hangar.

It quickly closed the distance, and after landing inside the dark hangar, the hatch on the side opened and 76 carefully stepped out as the first.

"All right everyone..." The old soldier shouted. "You all know what to do. So let's get it done quickly!"

With the quick speech over, 76 quickly dashed off towards the nearest exit, with Angela and Fareeha close behind him.

Once the trio was gone from view, the remaining three were silent for a few seconds, until Hanzo spoke up.

"I will get up there and use it as a vantage point." The archer said as he pointed the edge of his bow at a large, square hole on their right.

"Sure." Lena simply said, but Mei quickly added "Do you know what exactly that is?"

"Probably some sort of ventilation." Lena answered, despite the question not being directed at her.

"We won't know by standing here." The archer said.

"True." Lena acknowledged. She then suddenly turned towards the archer and asked "But, wait. How are you going to get up there?"

Instead of answering her with words, Hanzo immediately ran towards the wall under the, supposed, ventilation hole. Upon reaching the wall, the archer set off with his last step, jumped up and found a small dent in the wall with his hand.

He then swung his body so he could catch another small dent in the wall, while also placing his foot in a third small dent.

Hanzo continued like that for barely a few seconds, before he found himself up in the hole, looking down at his two teammates.

Mei just stood and looked at him with disbelief, but Lena slowly whistled before mumbling "Bloody hell."

However, there was little time to be impressed. As soon as Lena had said those words, the light in the hangar turned red for a brief second, and all the doors immediately shut close around Lena and Mei. The pair quickly looked up at Hanzo, but another steel plate suddenly blocked their access to him.

" _What the hell happened?!_ " 76 suddenly roared over the intercomm.

" _A trap._ " Hanzo's voice added over the intercomm as well.

" _You don't say!_ " 76 sarcastically responded. " _Anyway, are you all okay?_ "

"Yeah. It just looks like we're stuck in here." Lena answered.

" _Well, that could've been worse._ " 76 said, although his voice expressed more worry than his words. " _Fareeha, are you okay?_ " 76 suddenly asked.

"Wait, what?!" Lena suddenly asked. "She isn't with you?"

" _No._ " Angela was now the one to explain. " _A metal door seperated us before we had a chance to do anything._ "

" _A similar situation to ours._ " Hanzo commented.

" _What?!_ " 76 yelled through the intercomm, and Lena almost thought he stood next to her for a second. Hanzo then quickly explained their situation, and once he was done, 76 let out a loud sigh.

" _What do you want to do?_ " Fareeha asked over the intercomm.

76 was initially silent, and while waiting for an answer, Lena decided to pace around a little bit. But she was quickly stopped, when Mei suddenly grapped her coat's arm.

"What?" Lena asked, trying her best to hide a bit of annoyance.

Mei didn't respond. Instead, she pointed towards the opposite end of the hangar. There, from the other door than the one 76 and his team had run through, a familiar black smoke was slowly seeping through the cracks in the door.

"Uh... guys?" Lena slowly asked, as her eyes became fixed on the collecting smoke. "I think we might need a bit of assistance."

However, all that came over the comm was some inaudiable noise with a few recognizable words like 'what' and 'get' scattered amidst it.

"Guys?" Lena desperately tried again, but once again, static was all she got.

Realizing they were on their own, Lena pulled forth her pistols, as she tried to encourage Mei with "Come on! We can take him!"

"R-right!" Mei responded, as she also pulled out her own weapon.

The two stood and watched as more and more of the black smoke collected in front of the door. Once the smoke was about a meter high, a single red light suddenly lit up from inside it. Then, with a quick motion of his hand, the kneeling Reaper tore the smoke away, revealing himself, with a shotgun in the other hand.

* * *

"You're saying it's a trap?!" Lucio asked out loud at Max's confession.

"I'm not saying anything." Max calmly clarified. "I'm just highlighting a curios detail in this whole case."

"Nothing you do is random." Genji suddenly said and Max turned towards him curiosly. "If you chose to highlight this to us, you must believe yourself that it's a trap."

"Well done." Max complimented. "Yes, I do believe that."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Lucio exclaimed. "We need to warn them!"

Both Genji and Lucio immediately got up from their seats, but as Reinhardt and Torbjorn was about to stand up as well, Max suddenly sighed rather loudly.

"You're not coming?" Genji asked the completely still psychologist.

"Don't bother." Max said in an incredibly sad and tired voice.

"What?" Lucio just asked.

"By all likelyhood, they've already arrived at the base, and if it really is a trap, then it's already been sprung." Max explained. "There's nothing we can do, or send, to help them."

Everyone else just stood and stared at Max in disbelief. Eventually, Lucio completely turned towards him.

"So what?" The brazillian Dj asked, and Max looked up at him. "You're just going to do nothing? You're just going to sit back and let fate decide whether or not they return, instead of taking the chance and warning them, in case they haven't made it yet?!"

The brazillian DJ suddenly took a step forward and with perhaps a bit too much passion, asked "You're just going to let them get hurt without doing anything like a lazy bastard?!"

Max hung his head and let his arms hang down his sides.

"Lucio..." Reinhardt suddenly intervened. "I think that was a bit too far, my friend." The old german knight said.

"As do I." Torbjorn added from his position behind the towering Reinhardt.

The brazillian DJ let out a sigh as he admitted "Yeah, you're probably right."

He then turned towards Max, as he started "Max, listen, I..." He suddenly stopped when he saw something. Max was breathing incredibly sparratically and as he raised his left hand, it could clearly be seen violently shaking.

"Are... you okay?" Genji nervously asked.

Max didn't answer. Instead, his fingers slowly closed themselves around his glasses and then pulled them off, only for his eyes to still be covered by a bit of hair.

"Hey, Max, are you okay?" Lucio asked with ever rising nervousness. "You're... kinda starting to freak-" "SHUT UP!" Max suddenly roared across the entire room as he thrust the hand holding his glasses into the surface of the bar table, cracking and bending it.

Max looked up at everyone, now with eyes that weren't obstructed by sunglasses. And the clear, icey blue eyes had a fire, no, an inferno behind them. An inferno fueled by the deepest emotions.

Max kept standing and looking at everyone, who all took a few steps back from the rather intimidating presence of him.

"Max...?" Genji blurted out.

The psychologists eyes suddenly shifted to his position, and they stayed there for a few seconds, before he suddenly covered his eyes with his right hand.

"No..." The psychologist mumbled, as he let a hand run along the cracked surface. He then hung his head, seemingly in shame, as he said "Everyone always says it's a gift to have such an analytical mind as mine. To be able to think so far ahead."

Max then turned his eyes towards the gathered group, but now there was no inferno behind them. Instead, they just looked empty and incredibly tired.

"But it's only when you're able to see so many paths, you realize just how few of them actually have a light at the end of them." He finished.

The psychologist then began to move towards the other exit, as he continued.

"Go on, send your message. I won't interfere. But don't expect it to save any lives." He somberly said, before he exited the room, leaving the rest completely speechless.

* * *

"Welcome..." Reaper confidently hissed. "... to your grave."


	31. War Breeds Bloodsoaked Hands

**A/N: Some of you noted that I was building up to something big. I was.**

* * *

"Like hell!" Lena defiantly retorted. She pointed her pistols at the mercenary as her eyes narrowed.

As Reaper stood up, the shotgun in his hand dispersed into smoke. His body then unexpectedly began to tremple.

"What's he doing?" Mei nervously mumbled to Lena.

"I have no idea." Lena regrettably answered.

His trembling suddenly came to a stop, when Reaper looked up at the duo. He then bend slightly backwards and started laughing like a madman, his raspy, almost ghastly voice reflecting off the walls in the hangar. For a few seconds, it sounded like there were several Reapers in the hangar and they were all laughing at Lena and Mei.

The mercenary then quickly calmed himself, and as he looked at the two people in front of him, his confidence could be seen even through his mask.

"We'll see..." He then said, with as much confidence in his voice as his attitude.

And then, he just slightly extended his arms out, waiting for the pair to make the first move.

Greatly annoyed over his confidence, Lena wanted nothing more than to wipe the smirk she was sure he had, off his face. She then quickly knelt down, and with a quick "Cover me" to Mei, she dashed off towards Reaper without waiting for a response.

As the distance between them rapidly closed, Lena pointed both her pulse pistols at the mercenary and opened fire.

The bullets quickly flew through the air towards Reaper, but when they got there, they only penetrated the smoke he'd left behind.

"Where did he go?" Lena asked as she topped and looked around.

The hangar was silent for a few seconds, until Mei suddenly shouted "Behind you!"

Lena immediately turned around, only to be met with Reaper's ghastly voice saying "Too slow." before an armored boot kicked her in the stomach. The young brit almost flew across the hangar, before smashing against the wall, bending it.

As Reaper slowly walked towards the young brit, his shotguns materialized in his hands. "So sad..." He mumbled. "For such technology to be put in the hands of such an incapable child. You truly don't know what you're doing with it."

The mocking from Reaper once again convinced Lena to keep going. Stubbornly, she placed both her hands on the ground and pushed herself up in a standing position. As she picked up her pistol, she felt something warm dripping from her mouth. When she quickly ran a gloved hand over it, she could clearly see it was blood.

"Allow me to relieve you of it." Reaper finished, pointing one of his shotguns at her.

Lena stood for a seconds, wondering how to escape her current situation, when Reaper suddenly made a grunt of pain. The masked mercenary turned around and glared at Mei, who had her blaster pointed in his direction.

"I'll return that, THOUSANDFOLD!" Reaper roared across the hangar.

Using the brief distraction, Lena quickly blinked past Reaper and up next to Mei.

"Are you okay?" Mei sincerely asked.

"I can still fight." Lena answered. She then turned towards her teammate, as she said "I'll keep him busy. I can at least do that much. And while I do so, you try to get that Hanzo back in the fight!"

"I invite you to try." A voice behind the pair invited. Mei was about to turn around, but Lena remembered and instantly threw herself into Mei, knocking them both out of the way of Reaper's shot.

Tumbling for a few seconds, the duo quickly got back up and looked at Reaper, who was standing in front of their dropship. The mercenary casually threw one of his shotguns up on his shoulder. "Though I'm certain you'll find him preoccupied." He said.

"What have you done?" Lena defiantly asked, while readying her pistols.

Reaper quickly chuckled. "You actually believe that the others will come and rescue you?"

"Why wouldn't they? We're a team!" Lena responded, giving Mei time to get back and ready as well.

"Don't patronize me." Reaper retorted. He then let go of both his shotguns and his posture suddenly took on a serious turn. "They're all busy fighting for their own life. And when faced with the choice of saving someone else or themselves, people will always choose themselves. And do you know why?"

Lena was silent.

"Because humans, all humans, are born selfish, lazy and egocentric. Even you..." Reaper slowly raised a finger and pointed it at Lena. "Oxton. You are also like that."

"Like hell I am!" Lena defied. She then turned towards Mei, who was also looking at Reaper, and said "You ready?"

With just a determined nod, Mei answered.

"Good." Lena said. She then turned back to the masked mercenary, and exclaimed "Then let's go!"

With another nod, Mei aimed her blaster at Reaper and launched an icicle at him. He easily dodged, but Lena quickly blinked near him and opened fire, hitting him across his chest and shoulders.

"Aargh!" Reaper exclaimed, dematerializing into smoke again, dissapearing.

Without saying anything, Lena slowly backed towards Mei, as she carefully surveyed her surroundings.

Once the pair reached each other, they stood back to back. "Where do you think he went?" Mei asked while also surveying her area.

"I don't know." Lena responded. "He usually..." Lena went quiet. In a split-second, she went through the battle in her head. She then suddenly leapt forward before jumping up and spinning around. She had guessed correctly, as her leg connected with the back of Reaper's head. Though he didn't seem to take any damage, he was still briefly stunned and in shock.

"NOW!" Lena shouted and Mei immediately pointed her blaster at Reaper's feet and pulled the trigger, freezing his feet in place.

The young brit quickly got on her feet, and as Reaper tried to get free, Lena exclaimed "Y'know, you're getting kinda predictable."

Reaper furiosly looked up at her, only for Lena to take her pistol and beat him on the different sides of his head twice, before pointing at his mask and pulling the trigger.

With a quick shot, the ice around Reaper's feet melted and the mercenary fell backwards, limp.

"WE DID IT!" Lena exclaimed as she double-highfived an equally excited Mei.

After the short celebration, the two looked over at Reaper, when they noticed something. A corner of his mask was blown off, but they couldn't see what was under it.

"Not... yet." The mercenary suddenly exclaimed, seemingly still able to fight.

Lena didn't waste any time. She immediately went over to him and pointed the barrel of her gun at Reaper's face. "You've lost." She exclaimed.

Seemingly ignoring the gun pointed at him, Reaper placed his hands next to his chest and pushed himself up in a kneeling position. He then looked up at Lena, and for a brief moment, she was stunned. In the place the mask was blown off, a single brown, bloodshot eye looked up at her, a seemingly unnatural amount of anger and hatred hidden behind them. And next to the eye was brown, but decaying and damaged skin. That last part was likely her fault.

"I haven't lost until I'm dead and buried." The mercenary responded to Lena's exclamation. Then, with heavy breathing, he pushed himself up in a standing position, while still glaring at the slightly stunned Lena.

"What... what are you?" Lena suddenly exclaimed. "Why aren't you dead?!"

"I..." Reaper slowly answered. His voice was gradually regaining some of his former confidence. "I am the result, the final product, of the bloody enviroment you're all aimlessly wandering through, blinded to its horrors by your naivety."

"What... are you talking about?" Lena kept asking.

"Death." Reaper responded. "Death of your percieved foes. Death of your so-called allies. Death at the hands of those who are called evil. And death..." Reaper's eye narrowed. "at the hands of those who call themselves good."

The hangar was quiet. Reaper was done talking and neither Lena nor Mei could find anything to say. Eventually, the mercenary began to cackle.

"What's so funny?" Lena asked while keeping her pistols aimed at Reaper's head.

"You don't understand." He answered. "If you didn't have to die here, you would eventually. But here we are."

The mercenary then suddenly materialized his shotguns in his hands while extending the distance between his feet.

As he cackled again, Reaper looked up at Lena. And his one visible eye suddenly began to glow red, as all the muscles in his body tightend.

"Er, Lena?" Mei suddenly asked, and when Lena turned towards her, she saw what she was pointing at. Around Reaper's feet, a whirlpool of his smoke began to form.

Lena quickly looked back up at Reaper, whose eye was now intensily glowing red, before she realized what was going on.

" _DIE DIE DIE!_ " Reaper roared across the hangar and Lena instinctively threw herself in the opposite direction of him, towards some metal crates.

The young brit opened her eyes. She wasn't dead. "LENA!" She then heard and when she looked up, she could see Mei standing next to one of the crates and hurrying on her.

Confused, she looked behind her, only to see a giant wall of ice was blocking Reaper's fire. But not for long. Cracks were already showing in it.

"COME ON!" Mei now hurried her. Lena quickly nodded before she got up and ran towards the crates, forgetting in the heat of the moment that she had her chronal accelerator.

As she ran towards Mei, Lena could hear more cracking sounds coming from the wall between her and certain death.

Managing to get there at the last second, Lena quickly jumped behind the crates as the wall broke and Reaper's fire filled the air above them.

Lena quickly looked to her right to check on Mei, when she saw something. She was holding tightly around her leg, where a red spot was rapidly growing, like an infection.

"You're hit!" Lena exclaimed as she leaned in closer to her.

"I'm... I'm fine." Mei tried, but her pained expression told Lena otherwise.

"Oh, don't give me that." Lena responded.

"Sorry." Mei quickly apologized, but Lena didn't really listen to it. Instead, she was focused on tearing off the lower part of her jacket's sleeve.

Once it finally came off, Lena quickly wrapped it around Mei's leg as tightly as possible.

"There." She then exclaimed. "Now we'll just have to wait until we meet back up with doc."

Mei just nodded.

The young brit's expression suddenly became a lot more serious, and as she pulled out her pistols, she noted "He's going to pay for that."

Now that her focus wasn't on Mei's hurt leg anymore, Lena noticed something. The constant sound of shotgun-shots had stopped. Carefully, she raised her head and looked towards Reaper, only to see him standing completely still. He looked rather exhausted.

"Stay here." Lena ordered. She then quickly jumped over the crates before Mei had any chance to object, and began to run towards Reaper.

Quickly closing the distance with a few blinks, Lena swiftly found herself next to Reaper, when his exposed eye suddenly locked on to her.

"And I'm the one that's predictable?" The mercenary asked.

Before Lena had a chance to get away, Reaper grapped her by the wrist and extended his arm upwards, raising Lena off her feet.

"LET ME GO!" Lena defiantly yelled at him, before trying to point the pistol in her free hand at him. But with a quick punch to her gut, Reaper knocked both the air out of her lungs and the pistol out of her hand.

"Stop squirming and flailing like a spoiled brat." Reaper just responded. His exposed eye gleamed with satisfaction as he placed a shotgun up under Lena's chin.

A small cackle escaped his mouth, but before he could pull the trigger, an icicle tore the weapon out of his hand. Reaper immediately looked towards the source of it, and saw Mei, leaning against the crates with one hand and aiming her blaster at him with the other.

"You..." He slowly hissed. He quickly looked at Lena and then back at Mei.

With a quick motion of the hand that was holding Lena's wrist, the mercenary twisted it in an unnatural direction, loudly breaking the bones and tearing sinew and muscles apart.

As Lena let out a scream of agony, Reaper dropped her to the ground like a used toy. He then turned towards Mei and began to walk towards her with shotguns in hand.

With Reaper approaching her, Mei tried to fire another icicle. Nothing. Her tank was empty.

"Was that all you were good for?" Reaper confidently mocked while approaching her.

Realizing she couldn't fight, Mei tried to turn around, but with her damaged leg, Reaper easily caught up with her, and with a kick in the back, knocked her on the ground.

The mercenary pointed his shotguns at her, when a voice behind him suddenly exclaimed "Don't. You. Dare."

Curios, Reaper turned around only to be met with the barrel of one of Lena's pistols. Behind it, the brit's broken wrist was just hanging down her side as a steady stream of blood was flowing from the limp hand, and her eyes were glaring with anger at him. Reaper quickly realized that those were the eyes of someone who wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger. And she was aiming at his exposed area.

The mercenary quickly threw his shotguns on the floor, while keeping his eyes locked on Lena. He then sighed.

"Tell me, Oxton." Reaper suddenly said, as his eyes suddenly took a weird turn. They weren't very angry or confident, but more dissecting, observing. Almost like a twisted version of Max's look.

"Your chronal dissasociation, your curse, how did you get it?" He suddenly asked an incredibly unexpected question.

"You already know!" Lena answered, not intending to take part in any games.

"Yes... the Slipstream. A horrible waste of materials and technology." Reaper commented. "But tell me, where was it tested?"

"Where it was tested?" Lena asked back. "I..." She then said, as an old and repressed memory returned to her. The area. The test-area. It had been... the Grand Canyon.

As the arm holding the pistol slumped down, Reaper's eyes got the confidence back in them.

"The view from here, this hangar... all of it. Doesn't it look familiar?" Reaper asked.

Lena immediately closed her eyes tightly and put her hands to her ears, as she retorted with "SHUT UP!"

"Even that spot... right there..." Reaper almost whispered as he slowly pointed a talon-covered finger at a spot a couple of meters away from them. "That should look... very, familiar."

Lena still defiantly kept her hands over her ears, when a small sound began to play in the back of her head. She couldn't hear what it was, but it was slowly getting louder.

Reaper slowly lowered his arm, as he looked at Lena with a bit of dissapointment. "Talon are this age's vultures." He then sighed, before shouting "LOOK AROUND YOU!"

The sound in Lena's ears slowly rose, as all the muscles in her body suddely relaxed, and she slowly opened her eyes and looked at the spot Reaper had pointed at. It was empty. Or, no, there was something. The sound in Lena's ears suddenly rose in intensity, and she could hear what it was. Warning-beeps from a cockpit. Scrambled noises over the comms. The air whisling past her. Her own blood rushing through her ears.

Slowly, the thing in the hangar began to take shape. The Slipstream.

Lena's legs collapsed under her and she fell to her knees. She thought she could hear her name being called from somewhere, but that was far away. Too far away, to be made out.

Looking down on herself, Lena saw she was wearing an unfamiliar outfit. But it was familiar. A pilot's suit, that's what it was.

Suddenly, though all the scrambled noises, Lena heard a voice. _"EJECT LIEUTENANT! EJECT NOW!_ " A commanding voice ordered.

" _I can't! It's jammed!_ " Lena heard herself speak. But she spoke without opening her mouth. Like it was someone else. But her.

 _"What do you mean it's jammed?!_ " The commanding voice asked back. The sounds, the beeps, the noises, the air, the blood, it was all getting louder and louder.

Lena looked around. The cockpit was filled with red lights beeping, systems going haywire, and several 'error' or 'warning: danger' messages. As the ground flew by underneath her, she felt the panic beginning to take over her mind just as quickly.

Frantically closing her eyes and shaking her head, Lena looked up and saw something. In front of the Slipstream. There were three people. Winston. Jack Morrison. And Lena. She remembered this. This was the last time she spoke to them, to anyone, before her accident.

The sounds in Lena's ears were getting louder and louder. Beeping. Noises. Air. Blood. It was all so loud!

 _BANG_

There was a sound of metal, of something hitting metal. It wasn't in her memories, it was here and now.

Slowly, the Slipstream and the figures in front of it dissapated and Lena looked towards the source of the sound, only to be met with an even worse nightmare.

Next to the dropship, Reaper stood and was holding Mei up against the dropship with one hand. Behind Mei's head, a single stream of red blood ran down the white surface of the ship.

Lena just sat and looked on with horror, her body completely in shock over the recent turn of events. And then, Reaper turned towards her and looked at her with overwhelming glee, before turning back to Mei.

The mercenary then took his other hand and ran it down along the cheek of Mei, until he reached her neck.

There, Reaper removed his hand, tensed the muscles in it, and then drove the five talons deep into Mei's neck, tearing through flesh like it was nothing. As he stood there for a few seconds, blood began to violently run down along his hand and fingers, while all the life began to drain in Mei's eyes.

Once Reaper finally let out the talons and let go of Mei, the blood from her neck began to spew more freely, some landing on the dropship, a little landing on Reaper himself, but most of it just flowing down Mei's neck, painting the top of her coat in a sickly shade of red.

The dying Mei dropped to her knees. There, she managed to turn her head towards Lena. Though her eyes were almost completely empty and lifeless, she still managed to send Lena a comforting smile.

Then, Mei-Ling Zhou dropped over. Her smile dissapeared. A pool of blood began to form under her limp body.

* * *

Lena just sat and stared at the scene in front of her. Much to her horror, the ungodly sight of Mei's body didn't make her cry. Instead, she just sat and looked at it with disbelief.

She didn't say anything. She didn't move. Lena's body was almost completely numb. The only thing that still moved was her lungs.

Realizing the brit wasnt going to do anything, Reaper just casually strolled over towards her, while materializing his shotguns in his hands.

"So, that's it?" He confidently asked, but as expected, Lena didn't respond in any visual way.

Reaper looked at her for a few seconds, before suddenly sighing. "It seems Overwatch still hasn't learned its lesson, even through all of these deaths."

"You're not fit for war. You never were." He then said, as he looked down, both literally and figuratively, at Lena. He then pointed one of his shotguns at her face.

"And now, all you're fit for is a coffin in the ground." He said as his finger tightend around the trigger. But before he could manage to shoot, a sound suddenly distracted him.

Reaper immediately turned towards the source of the sound, and saw that the lock in front of the ventilation system was visibly bending backwards.

"How would a mere archer...?" The mercenary asked himself. And the answer came immediately, as a loud explosion knocked the lock off, and amidst the insuing smoke, Hanzo quickly jumped out, followed quickly by Fareeha.

On his way down, Hanzo saw Lena's predicament and immediately shot four arrows at the mercenary, before landing on the ground.

Reaper quickly turned his lower body into smoke and evaded the arrows but the following rockets from Fareeha forced him to stay on the move.

"LENA!" Fareeha shouted while continuing to shoot at Reaper with rockets. Lena didn't respond.

In the split second Fareeha had taken her eyes off Reaper, the mercenary had dissapeared.

"Godammit. Where is he?!" She shouted to Hanzo.

"He dispersed like a coward." Hanzo both explained and mocked at the same time. A thing he was very good at.

The pair seperately seached far and wide in the hangar, but the mercenary remained as good at hiding as always.

"A coward runs from battle. A master of it approaches it from a new way." Hanzo suddenly heard a voice behind him say before the barrel of a shotgun was pressed against the back of his head.

Fareeha immediately turned towards the pair, but hesitated. He had his barrel at her teammates head.

As Reaper stood and considered the pros and cons of pulling the trigger, another one of the locked doors were suddenly blown off and 76 and Angela ran inside. As soon as 76 saw Reaper, he immediately pointed his rifle at him, while shouting "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

The mercenary took a look at 76, and as he did, his visible eye narrowed while almost glowing red again. However, Hanzo noticed that.

The archer quickly took a firm grip around his bow, before thrusting the already bloodstained edge at Reaper, piercing his stomach.

"Hurgh!" Reaper exclaimed as he dropped his shotgun and held over the bleeding spot on his armor.

Not wasting the opportunity, Hanzo continued and turned around with a new arrow in his bow, aimed at Reaper's exposed eye.

The mercenary quickly materialized his other shotgun in his hand, when he looked around. Hanzo had an arrow to his head. 76 was aiming at him as well. As was Fareeha above him.

Sighing, Reaper dematerialized his shotgun and looked at 76 with a "Very well. You win. For now."

Then, slowly, he began to envelop his entire body in smoke. Once he was almost covered and only his head remained, the cloud suddenly began to move across the hangar while covering Reaper's head, leaving only a single red light in the smokecloud.

The cloud suddenly reached Lena and the red light moved right next to her head.

"It was your fault." It whispered with Reaper's ghastly voice. The cloud then began to disperse as Reaper's cackle could be heard in the entire hangar.

Once the cloud and the cackle was finally gone, everyone slowly approached the stunned Lena, until their eyes landed on the source of her shock.

"Oh god..." Angela said, as she raised her hands up to cover her mouth. As she looked back over at Lena, a visible darkness fell over 76's face, meanwhile Fareeha and Hanzo just stood at looked with disbelief.

"Lena..." The Swiss doctor said, as she then quickly glided over and embraced her tightly.

"I'm so sorry..." She then mumbled.

As she closed her eyes and embraced Lena, Angela could begin to feel her shoulders trembling and her breath becoming more unstable. And then, with a cry of sorrow, the tears finally started to flow from the brit's eyes. Angela just silently embraced her tighter.

"FUCK!" Fareeha suddenly shouted as she vented her anger by punching a nearby crate, knocking it several meters back.

"FUCK!" The egyptian simply repeated. As she continued, Hanzo slowly went over next to Mei's body. He then carefully placed his bow down before kneeling down in front of her, knowingly getting her blood on his outfit and not caring.

For a few seconds, nobody moved in the hangar. All that could be heard were Fareeha's intense steps and Lena's seemingly endless crying.

Then, 76 stepped forward. Angela slowly looked up at him, partly because she was curios and partly to make sure he didn't do anything to Lena.

Once the soldier reached Mei, the darkness on his face became even more apparent as he shifted his gaze to Hanzo, who looked back. 76 then looked down at Mei and then back at him. Hanzo nodded.

The old soldier then walked over to the back of Lena and knelt down in front of Angela, before shifting his gaze to Lena.

"If we're careful." The doctor simply responded and 76 nodded. He then stood up.

"Let's go." The old soldier simply said. His voice was heavy and tired and even though there was no apparent sadness in it, Angela thought she could hear some regret in it. But also some anger.

Respectfully, Hanzo placed his hands under Mei's knees and neck and carried her onto the dropship that was no longer completely white.

Angela slowly stood up and extended a hand to Lena. The brit accepted, and while Angela took her arm over her shoulder and helped her onto the ship, Lena just kept weeping.

Once Fareeha was also aboard, 76 said "Athena, we're coming home. Tell everyone to meet us in the hangar and not to disturb us. And I mean 'everyone'."

As Angela helped Lena sit down in one of the seats, she quickly looked at 76 over that last sentence.

"Understood." Was Athena's only monotone answer. Once the hatch was closed, the five members left.

* * *

Once the dropship was but a white dot on the otherwise blue sky, smoke began to collect in the hangar yet again. After a few seconds, Reaper appeared, still with his cracked mask.

As he turned towards the sky and the dropship, an expression of victory came over his face.

A hand then moved up to his ear.

"Operation Mythical Hydra, Phase 1 completed. Damages were acceptable and within given parameters. Moving on to Phase 2." The mercenary said.

"Well done. Command will be pleased to hear this." The Speaker said from the other side. He then added "Your business here is done. A ship will come and pick you and any surviving operatives up shortly. There, you will recieve your new orders."

"Sure." Reaper just casually responded.

Then, a grin of malice and superiority appeared under the mask.

As the one visible, mocking eye kept looking at the dropship, Reaper added "But before you go and tell them, I have something else I believe your superiors will be very pleased to hear..."


	32. Blame

**A/N: Some of you were asking if Mei were coming back or if she was gone for good. In short, she's gone. There's no such thing as necromancy in this story.**

* * *

"Welcome back!" Winston greeted, blissfully unaware of the tragedy that had befallen them.

In the entrance to the dropship, 76 just stood and silently stared at everyone gathered. There was a certain gloomy darkness in his expression and everyone immediately knew something had happened.

After a few seconds, Angela appeared in the entrance as well, carrying a sleeping Lena over her shoulder. On the way back, Angela had also taken the liberty of wrapping a bandage around Lena's damaged wrist.

"She's just sleeping." The Swiss doctor quickly explained to everyone.

Winston just nodded. The gorilla could see on 76's face that this wasn't all there was.

As Angela walked down to the gathered crowd, Fareeha also appeared in the entrance. The egyptian had a look of shame on her face, and in complete silence, she walked down.

When both Angela and Fareeha reached the group, they also turned around and looked at the opening, while Lucio took Lena's other arm over his shoulders.

76 quickly looked inside the ship and nodded.

Hanzo then stepped out onto the hatch and a collective gasp ran through the members.

On the top of the hatch, Hanzo stood with Mei's lifeless body in his hands. His clothes was also covered in blood on the chest and from the knees down.

"No..." The only audible response came from Winston. All the other gathered simply looked on with disbelief.

"Brother... is she...?" Genji eventually mustered to ask. In response, Hanzo just closed his eyes and hung his head. But that was all needed to give an answer.

Everyone just stood, completely frozen in shock over something so unbelievable.

"I... just cannot fathom it." Torbjorn was now the one to speak. 76 turned towards him, but a quick death-glare from Angela, who stood next to the Swedish engineer, convinced him to temporarily shut his mouth.

"Should I take her to the med-bay?" Lucio then half-heartedly asked, as he quickly reaffirmed his grip around Lena.

"Please." Angela just responded, as she carefully handed the uncouncious body over to Lucio. The brazillian DJ then began to walk away with heavy steps that were very unlike him.

A few more silent seconds followed, no one neither knowing what to say nor daring to say anything.

"We... should make... preparations." Winston then eventully said, with his gaze lingering on the body in Hanzo's arms.

"Preparations for a proper... burial." The gorilla then said. It seemed every word took an enourmous amount of effort to get out, which wasn't hard to understand.

A slow wave of nods went through the gathered crowd, agreeing to Winston's proposal.

"If you would please... take her away. For now." Winston then asked Hanzo. The archer simply nodded in response before he made his way out of the hangar as well.

Once he was out of view, the rest slowly turned their heads towards Winston.

"How...?" Winston then asked with his eyes closed tightly.

"The fatal wounds on her neck were most likely caused by Reaper. His talons, to be specific." Angela explained the medical details, though with no happiness for having to do so.

"I see..." The gorilla then said.

Once again, a rather heavy silence rested in the hangar for a while, until Winston looked up at everyone again.

"I believe we-" "Wait." 76 suddenly cut off Winston's announcement and everyone immediately turned towards him. The soldier was standing and seemingly scanning the enviroment. He then looked at Winston.

"Where's the psychologist?" He then asked Winston with a pretty passive-aggressive voice. When Angela looked around, she couldn't see him either.

"Oh, Max?" Winston asked. "He's resting in his quarters. Apparently, something happened, and he needed to wind down a-" Winston explained, but before he was done, 76 had already turned around and was walking towards the exit of the hangar.

Angela noticed he was taking unusually quick steps. Without asking for permission, she immediately began to trail behind him.

76 quickly made his way through the base, and it didn't take much to figure out where he was going. What was harder to see was why.

The soldier quickly turned a corner and found himself in front of the corridor where all the personal quarters were. With hasty steps, he walked down to the one in use that was furthest back.

Without any sort of warning, he opened the door and stepped inside.

Max, sitting at his desk and seemingly reading something, immediately turned his head towards the hardend soldier in surprise.

"Ah, 76." He exclaimed upon seeing him. He then got up from his chair as 76 walked closer.

"What can I-" Max started, but he was quickly silenced when 76's fist connected with his jaw and lower face.

In shock, Max just silently fell to his knees and hands, as he could feel a sharp pain from his jaw and blood running from his nose.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" 76 unexpectedly shouted at the top of his lungs at Max.

"YOU'RE THE REASON SHE'S DEAD!" He continued as Max slowly turned his head towards him.

"WE BROUGHT YOU HERE TO FIND THAT CURSED TRAITOR, AND IF YOU'D DONE THAT, MEI WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THAT TRAP!" 76 kept shouting. He then vented more of his anger by kicking Max in the gut, knocking him on his side.

"BUT ALL YOU'VE BEEN DOING IS WASTING EVERYONE'S TIME!" The soldier said as he moved in for another attack.

"STOP!" A voice from the doorway suddenly shouted. Angela then quickly threw herself between the two, facing 76.

"Please... stop." Angela then implored, as her voice sounded like it was on the verge of cracking.

"Get out of the way." 76 simply responded. His voice was stubborn and cold, an eerie contrast to what it had been just a few moments ago.

"Please... leave him alone." Angela kept begging, but 76 didn't budge.

As he took a step towards Angela, another voice suddenly sounded from the doorway.

"SOLDIER 76! STEP BACK THIS INSTANT!" Winston's voice roared throughout the entire room. The mentioned soldier turned towards him, only to see that everyone else were gathered behind him, either looking at Max with sympathy or him with hostility.

Though he didn't move, 76 relaxed in his body while keeping Winston's gaze locked.

"Step. Out. Of. This. Room." Winston ordered. But 76 kept standing still.

"NOW!" The gorilla then roared, his head getting dangerously red.

76, realizing there was no other alternative, let out an annoyed grunt and stepped towards the door. As he was about to exit, yet another voice stopped him.

"You... aren't wrong." It said, and when 76, no, everyone turned towards it, they saw Max, standing with one hand over his stomach and the other hanging by his side. Three steady streams of blood were running down his face, one from his nose and two from the edges of his mouth.

"But tell me this, 76:" He then said as he turned his entire body towards the soldier. "Was this an act of justice, or a way to blame someone else for something you feel responsible for, but you feel you are unable to carry that guilt? Hm?"

76 just looked at Max. Even though he was silent, a serious, almost threatening glare shot from his eyes behind his mask.

"Silence can often be just as, if not more, telling as words." Max said. He then straightend his back and looked at 76. He looked at him like that for a few seconds, until he said "I would appreciate it, if you would now leave me be, farmboy."

Something akin to an electric shock seemed to go through 76 for a second, before he regained his composure. With another grunt, he left and walked away.

Once he was far enough away, Winston turned back to Max. "You okay?"

"Yeah..." Max responded, though it didn't sound very convincing.

"I'll be the judge of that." Angela stubbornly interjected as she looked at Max with concern. The psychologist just chuckled before turning back to Winston.

"I think we'll be fine." He said, and with a nod, Winston left the pair alone, everyone else quickly following his example. The last to leave, Reinhardt, made sure to close the door before following behind the others.

Finally alone, Angela managed to half push, half guide Max up onto his bed. She then sat down next to him, before gently placing a hand on his chin and whiping one of the blood-streams away.

She then moved her hand up, until she reached his glasses.

"May I?" She asked in an almost whispering voice.

The question seemed to take Max aback briefly. After quickly regaining his composure, he turned his head out towards the empty room.

"... Sure." He eventually answered as he turned back towards Angela. She quickly nodded before carefully placing a hand on each side of the glasses. She then lifted them, and with a small click, they seperated from Max's head.

Angela just laid the glasses on the bedside table while keeping her eyes locked on Max's, which were currently closed. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

Angela let out a sigh. They were the same eyes as all those years ago. But like in Max's apartment, they didn't focus on anything, and just looked empty and hollow, which was a stark contrast to what they had been before.

Once she was done looking at his eyes, the Swiss doctor began to closely inspect his jaw and nose, while also whiping the remaining blood away.

"You're going to be fine." Angela eventually explained. "It's nothing serious, and it'll probably be back to normal in a few weeks."

Angela then retracted her hands, as she added "If it had been serious, there's no telling what I would've done to him..."

Max noticed there was something odd about her voice. Like there was something under it that didn't quite fit with what she was saying. He almost immediately knew what it was.

Careful, Max placed his hand on Angela's, while trying his best to look her in the eyes. "I'm still me." Max then said in a low but reassuring voice. "There's no need to put on a facade. Just let it out."

Angela just sat and looked at him for a few seconds. Her shoulders suddenly trembled for a few seconds, before she hugged Max tightly. As she leaned her face against his chest, she began to uncontrollably cry.

In response, Max just placed his own hands on her back while also leaning his head on her shoulder.

"I just... I can't believe it..." Angela managed to get out between her wails. "She's... gone..."

"I know." Max just responded, knowing his presence was more comforting than anything he could ever say. "I know."

The pair continued to sit like that for a few minutes, Max letting Angela get everything out, until he suddenly thought he heard a sound.

"Hm?" He said as he turned out towards the rest of the room. He quickly picked up his glasses from the bed and put them on, but there was nothing.

"... Max?" Angela eventually asked when she noticed he was looking at his room.

"Oh, nothing." Max quickly dismissed the thought. He then let go of Angela and leaned back so he could look her in the eyes. "Better now?" He asked.

Angela just nodded in response.

"Good." Max comforted. He looked at her for a few seconds, until he spoke again. "I know you want to appear strong to the others. You've always wanted to be someone who was strong and helped those that wasn't. But this isn't something to hide. If anything, it makes you look even stronger, being able to cry like this."

Angela just looked at Max in silence, so he took the liberty of adding "No matter what, I'll always be ready to offer you a shoulder."

"Thanks..." Angela managed to get out. Max smiled as he reached for her face and wiped one of the tear-streams away.

"Remember that." He then said.

"I will." Angela responded, now seemingly much better. She then slowly stood up and began to walk over to the door. Before she stepped through, she turned back to Max, who was also standing up.

"I... have a feeling I'm not the only one who's... who would appreciate some advice." She slowly said.

"I stand ready to help anyone who will let me." Max responded with a smile. Angela quickly smiled back, before walking out of the room and down the hall.

Now alone, Max went over to his desk and sat down. "...who will let me." He slowly mumbled to himself as he looked at an open book lying on the desk.

"... let me." He repeated, while picking up the book, which was open on a page titled ' _Involuntary Treatment of PTSD_ '


	33. The Future

**A/N: I don't really have much to say, other than thanks for the reviews. It's always a delight to see that people are enjoying what you're doing. So, thanks!**

* * *

Jesse McCree let out a loud sigh as he walked through the corridors of the Overwatch base. From his right, the sun, high in the sky, was shining into the base. The cowboy was thankful for the shadow his hat provided.

After a few seconds, he stopped and turned towards the window. As he looked out over the desert-like landscape, his thoughts began to unwillingly drift.

Death. Whether he liked it or not, it had been a part of McCree's life for as long as he could remember. From Deadlock to Blackwatch. Just point the gun and pull the trigger, and then the victim would die.

As he thought that, McCree slowly rose his hand and pointed it like a gun at the sun. With a sound from his mouth and a move from his hand, he fired the 'gun'.

The cowboy suddenly felt a small flare of annoyance and frustration rise within him.

He reached into the holster at his side and pulled out the only friend that had stuck with him through it all. The Peacekeeper.

"A stupid name." He mumbled through gritted teeth. As his gaze rose to once again overlook the barren wasteland on the other side of the window, a thought appeared in his head.

It would be so easy to just open the window and throw the pistol, his indentity here, all the way to hell.

Then maybe, just maybe, death would stop following him wherever he went.

McCree then let out another sigh, as the arm holding the Peacekeeper slumbed down. Sure, he could try to run from death, but to do so, he would also run from his only friends in this cursed world.

"Hey there, cowboy!" A voice sudden exclaimed to McCree's right, and he immediately turned towards it. A few meters away, Lucio was approaching him.

"What are you doing here? Didn't get Winston's message?" The DJ asked.

"I could ask you the same question." McCree responded with his usual wit while he holstered his gun, hoping Lucio hadn't noticed.

"I had to make sure Lena was alright, before I left." Lucio answered before he added "What about you?"

McCree turned back towards the window. "Something similar." He just said in a rather melancholic voice.

"You okay?" The DJ asked, concern now clearly present in his voice.

"I don't know." The cowboy answered honestly, as he pulled his hat down over his eyes.

"C'mon, the ape's waiting." He then said, before Lucio had a chance to dig deeper, as he turned around and continued walking.

The pair continued to walk in complete and chosen silence, until they finally reached their destination: The meeting room. As they entered, McCree realized that this hadn't been used since Max arrived. It seemed like years now.

The door opened, and the two walked inside, only to see everyone else already seated around the circular table at the buttom of the stairs.

"There you are." Winston exclaimed. His voice wasn't judging, just very plain.

As the pair walked down the white stairs, Lucio unexpectedly turned in the direction of Max.

"Lena's awake, and she wants to talk with you. If you're free." The DJ relayed as he made his way towards his seat.

After a few short moments, Max turned towards the seat to his right, where Angela sat. He looked at her for a few seconds, before she eventually nodded with determination.

Upon further inspection, McCree could see the good doctor's eyes were rather red and tired.

Max then turned towards Winston, as he asked "I assume some sort of summary will be made available once you're done here?"

"Yes." Winston simply confirmed. The psychologist then turned his eyes downward for a few seconds. He then took one last look at Angela, before standing up and calmly walking out of the room.

"Did she say anything about what she wanted to talk about?" Fareeha curiosly asked.

"No." Lucio responded. "Just that she wished to speak with Max. Four eyes only."

"Well, with that out of the way, I believe you all know why I called you here." Winston said out loud, his voice rather heavy and somewhat tired.

As all eyes present turned towards him, the gorilla thought it best to say it out loud. "We should prepare some... arrangements. For Mei's... funeral, that is." He managed to say.

A certain gloomy atmosphere fell over the room, as others nodded in response.

One of the few who didn't nod, Reinhardt, spoke up. "Do we really have facilities for a... proper one? To do her the honours she really deserves?"

When McCree turned towards the knight, he noticed he had much the same, red eyes as Angela.

"Not initially." Winston answered the question.

"But we were thinking that we could conduct a ceremony on the platform above us-" 76 suddenly explained, taking quite a few around the table aback. "- and then finish it by pushing it, or her, into the sea below us."

"It isn't much, but we never expected this to happen." Winston added. "We'll have to make do with what we have."

"What about relatives?" Hanzo suddenly asked. "If she has any family, should the burial not be somewhere of their choice?"

"Well, that would be correct..." Winsont rather reluctantly responded. "But I checked her information, and the only relatives she's ever confessed to having, are her parents. And they aren't among us anymore."

"I see." Hanzo responded, seeminlgy deep in thought over Winston's response.

For a while, a silence appeared in the room. Until a sudden, sharp sound came from McCree's seat. When everyone turned towards it, the saw the cowboy had hit his mechanical hand against the table, cracking it. His eyes were hidden behind his hat, his expression rather grim.

"Kid." 76 was surprisingly the first one to speak. McCree didn't respond. "Look at me." The soldier then said.

Slowly, McCree lifted his head. His eyes were full of anger and frustration.

76 was seemingly done talking, as he just sat and looked at the frustrated McCree.

"I... do realize-" Winston suddenly intercepted. "-that this could be somewhat... emotionally disruptive. So..."

The gorilla suddenly turned towards Hanzo. "I have no ill meaning behind me when I say this, but as the one who has known Mei for the shortest time, could you take care of the most... delicate task, of preparing her... body?"

"I would be honored." Hanzo responded with a small bow.

"I would also like to help with that." Genji suddenly spoke up.

"Are you sure?" Winston responded, nothing but clear concern in his voice.

With just a determined nod, Genji answered.

"Very well." The gorilla just said.

When McCree briefly turned back towards 76, he spotted the soldier's eyes already on him. But because of the mask, his expression was, at that moment, unreadable.

"Now... onto the details..." Winston continued.

* * *

Lena laid completely still in her bed until she finally heard the knock on her door she'd been expecting.

"Come in." She said out loud in a rather energetic voice. The door to her room immediately opened and Max calmly stepped inside. He quickly walked past the poster-covered walls and disorganized cabinets until he reached Lena.

"How are you feeling?" The psychologist asked. His hands were behind his back, but his face had a comforting amount of concern on it.

Lena looked at him for a few seconds, before she turned away and closed her eyes. "Like utter shit." She admitted.

"I can imagine." Max responded, before he went over to Lena's equally messy desk and sat down in the chair.

"No." Lena unexpectedly corrected, and Max looked at her. "This is just annoying." She then explained, while she lifted up her broken and bandaged wrist.

"Yes..." Max continued. "I can imagine Mei's untimely demise hits harder, even if it's only on an emotional level."

"Sure..." Lena responded. Her voice was unusually disheartened, more so than Max had expected anyway. He kept looking at her curiosly.

When she didn't continue, Max took the opportunity to ask the question that'd been lingering in his mind ever since he stepped inside.

"Lena." He said, mostly to make sure she listened to him and wasn't somewhere else in her mind. She looked at him.

"You asked me here. For what reason?" He asked, his voice quite serious.

The brit was quiet for a few seconds, sitting completely still, until she spoke in a very low voice. "It's my fault she's dead."

Max let out a sigh. "Lena, I might not've been there, but I, as well as everyone else here, know it wasn't your fault. It was Talon and Rea-" "NO!"

Lena's sudden shout surprised Max, who sat straight up in the chair and looked at her with showing surprise.

"It is my fault." Lena emphasized once again. She then pulled her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs, as she started explaining.

"None of the others know about this, I... I haven't got the gut to tell them, but..." She said, her voice shaking quite a bit, as she stared blankly out in front of her.

"But that place... that base... it was were... were I... in..." Lena tried to explain, but her voice began to fail her.

Max sat in silence for a few seconds, until he looked up at Lena. "Slipstream?" He carefully suggested.

Lena just nodded. "All he had to do... all he did was pointing it out. And then... I was powerless... absolutely powerless... while he just..." She said, while raising a hand in front of her. She then quickly retracted it as she buried her wet face in her knees.

Max just sat in silence, looking out the window, while making sure he was understanding everything correctly. He then crossed his arms as his gaze fell down onto the sobbing Lena.

Though he knew this was a prime 'I told you so' opportunity, Max wasn't insensitive enough to actually take advantage of it. Instead, he waited.

After a while, the sounds from Lena died down, even though she didn't raise her head.

"Did you just want to tell it to someone, or was there anything else?" He carefully asked.

Lena was quiet for a few seconds. "No, there's more." She eventually answered, as she raised her head. She then turned it towards Max and looked at him.

"I... I know I don't have any right to ask this... I know that I don't deserve it..." She said. "But, please... help me!"

Max looked at Lena with surprise, though not because of her asking for his help. Rather, because her voice was so desperate he could barely recognize it.

"I don't want someone else to die because of me! I can't take it anymore!" Lena's voice was on the point of breaking. She then turned her entire upper body towards him, as she repeated "I know I don't deserve your help. But..."

Her voice finally broke and she started sobbing again. Though now, right in front of him

Max sat and thought to himself for a few seconds. Eventually, he smiled and rose from his chair. He then walked over to Lena and knelt down in front of her, so he could look her in the eyes.

"Lena." He said and she looked at him. "I'll help you." He then said, simple as that.

The brit looked at him for a few seconds, before she managed to say a measly "Really?"

Max just nodded. "THANK YOU!" Lena suddenly shouted as she threw herself towards Max, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

Every muscle tensed in Max's body, as he sat completely still, in some sort of shock over Lena's sudden move.

"Thank you..." Lena reapeated, her voice now much more happy. But the sadness wasn't completely gone, unfortunately.

"... Sure." Max responded, not hiding his uncertainty very well. He then slowly took Lena's arms and pulled them away from his neck, before he stood up.

"One more thing..." Lena unexpectedly added, and Max looked down on her with mild curiosity. "Would you mind keeping this just between us?" She then asked.

Max just looked at her for an unnerving while, his face slowly going from curios to quite troubled.

"In all honesty..." He eventually answered. "I would advise against it."

"Why?" Lena asked almost immediately.

"If we keep all the others out of it," Max started. "they wouldn't be able to understand and help you, should I be unavailable. You'll end up, in short, relying on me, and just me. Additionally, it might look odd to the others." He explained. Even though what he said was true, there was a secondary reason in the back of his mind he chose not to voice.

"Perhaps..." Lena admitted, knowing Max had a point.

She then suddely lowered her head and looked at her bed. "But... if they knew, I don't think I'd be able to ever look them in the eyes again. If they knew my stubborness... killed her, I would never be able to look them in the eyes."

Max sighed. "I'm not going to force you to do anything against your will. Not when you're already doing this." He eventually spoke in a cautionary voice. "But know I'm still against it."

The brit was quiet for an unusually long time. She sat up in her bed and looked seemingly deep in thought.

Eventually, her head turned towards Max. "Thanks for caring about me. But I'm sure."

"If you insist." Max finally budged. Lena just smiled at him.

Once a couple of silent moments had passed, the psychologist looked up at Lena again.

"In a couple of days, I'll be making a short trip back to Zürich, to get some more material I believe will help me. I'd like you to come along with me." He simply said. Though his voice was mostly clear and optimistic, as was his expression, there were still some lingering remnants of dissaproval beneath them.

"If you say so!" Lena responded in an equally simple way. Thankfully, she didn't seem to have noticed the remnants. "But why though?" She then suddenly asked.

"I'll tell you in due time." Max responded, much to the dismay of Lena. He then placed his hands behind his back, and before he walked out of the room, he quickly turned around and added "I promise."

* * *

"You were thinking of running away."

With a small sound of surprise he wasn't too proud of, McCree quickly turned around at the sudden voice that had appeared behind him, when he thought he was alone.

Finally regaining his composure, the cowboy was met with the mask of 76.

"So what if I did?" McCree finally answered as he straightend his back. He then walked over to the familiar open window and leaned against its frame.

With only silence from 76, McCree decided to continue.

"How did you know 'bout it anyway?" The calmed down cowboy decided to ask, with a rather solitary voice.

The soldier slowly walked over to the closed window next to McCree and, unlike the cowboy, looked out.

"I know, because I have once had those very same thoughts." He finally answered while looking out the window. "The pressure, the constant caution... the death. Eventually, you just want to run from it, no matter who you are."

McCree was silent. 76 had said exactly what he was thinking, so he couldn't add anything. The soldier continued.

"And I tried." He said.

McCree's head suddenly turned to him in surprise. When the soldier didn't do anything, the cowboy asked "And what happened."

"I hoped that it would all go away, that it would fix itself. But all it did was grow. It continued to grow until it finally grew out of my control. Of anyone's control." The soldier was briefly quiet, until he mumbled "How bloody naive I was."

"Eventually," He continued. "I tried to deal with it. I had to. I was forced to. But it was too late. It caused too much pain to everyone and it practically destroyed my life."

The soldier now turned towards McCree. "It's the reason I wear this. It's the reason for who I am now."

The story over, the pair stood in complete silence for a few minutes, the occational gust of wind outside the only sounds. Eventually, McCree turned around and looked out the window.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked. "You usually-" A quick wack on the back of the cowboy's head quickly silenced him.

After quickly recovering from the surprise of the hit, McCree looked back up at 76 with confusion. "You should be smart enough to figure that out yourself." The soldier just explained.

With a low chuckle, McCree stood up again and turned completely towards him.

"Running away won't solve any problems. It'll only give them room to grow." The cowboy then summarized.

With a comfirming nod, 76 turned his gaze back towards the desert landscape behind the windows.

"You have something good here kid." He then said in an uncharacteristically low and soft voice. "Don't ruin it by turning a blind eye to the bad parts."

Apparently finished, 76 turned away and began to walk down the corridor before McCree had any chance to add or ask anything.

Now alone, the cowboy walked back over to the open window.

"I'll take your words for it." He mumbled as his left hand unconciously moved down to rest on his pistol.


	34. Ripples

The evening sun bathed the entirety of the upper base in a soft, golden light. Yet, the only one who stood and looked at it was Angela. Everyone else seemed to wait for the ceremony to start, before stepping foot on the platform.

Trying to listen to the nonexistent chatter from the rooms behind her, the doctor let out a sigh.

As a few more silent minutes passed, Angela wondered if she was stuck in purgatory, time not moving, only frozen in this horrible moment. The sudden sound of metallic footsteps behind her thankfully proved her wrong.

When she turned around, Angela saw that it was Genji who had approached her. The cyborg was wearing a simple black suit over his metal body.

Angela remembered a few hours ago, when she had asked why he had put that on. His response was that he didn't want to be left out as the only one who wasn't wearing something appropriate.

The thought thankfully lifted the doctor's spirits, if only a little, and she smiled at the approaching cyborg.

"Genji." She greeted her friend, who stopped in his tracks.

"Angela." He simply responded. The fact that he had gotten over constantly referring to her as 'Dr. Ziegler' also lifted Angela's spirit a little. "Am I intruding?"

"No, not at all." Angela quickly answered his question.

"I'm glad." The cyborg exclaimed rather bluntly. He then walked up next to Angela, and they both turned back towards the sun.

After a few seconds of silence, Genji spoke up.

"Why aren't you in there?" He carefully asked, without moving his visor away from the sun.

"I'm not somewhere I'm not supposed to be." Angela knowingly deflected the question with a rather unrelated answer. Her voice was also somewhat deflective.

"True." Genji admitted. "But, if I may, it isn't like you. To resign yourself from places where your friends and comrades are gathered, that is." He then elaborated.

When the doctor looked up, she could see the green visor looking at her now, not the sun.

"You're probably right." Angela responded with a sigh. She felt that determining whether something was 'like' someone was Max's area of expertise, not her's. So she just gave a neutral answer.

She then closed her eyes as she continued.

"I just... all the silence, the sorrow, the... distance. I felt like I was going to suffocate in it." She the explained. Her voice once again sounded fairly tired, but there as also an undertone of shame in it.

Genji, somehow, let out a small sigh before responding.

"I get that." He then simply said.

When Angela turned back and smiled at him, the ninja decided to continue.

"Back when I was still a part of the syndicate-" He started and Angela listened, seemingly intrigued. "even back then, I knew what kind of life it would lead to me living. An undesirable one. I wasn't stupid, I didn't say anything. Instead, lead by my youthful wishes, I found myself at places like the arcade. There, I made several friends, though some of them would likely say that we were more than that."

Though he was slightly embarassed by admitting that, the giggle it pulled from Angela made it worth the embarrasment.

"But," He continued. "It also put me in the crossheirs of my, quote-on-quote 'family'. And you know what that resulted in."

Genji's voice was suddenly a lot more dark, and Angela simply nodded.

"But, on one of my trips back to Hanamura, I stopped by the arcade again. And do you know what I found?" The ninja asked in a much lighter voice.

When Angela shook her head, Genji said, with excitement "Almost everyone I knew from back then were still there."

A somewhat confused look from Angela encouraged Genji to elaborate. "Even though I had died, to them at least, that didn't stop them from eventually returning to that place. Whether or not my death caused them to be sad for a period or not, I don't know. But the one thing I do know is that, in the end, it didn't matter."

Genji looked down at Angela. "They had moved on."

"Yeah..." Was all Angela said at first, once Genji was done with his story. She then took in a deep breath, as she added "I just hope it won't last long."

"As do I." Genji said.

The pair continued to gaze out towards the sun for a few minutes, until Genji suddenly broke the silence again.

"I believe it isn't long before we start. Want to go in with me?" He proposed as he turned his body towards Angela.

"Sure." The doctor simply responded. As the pair began to walk back to the entrance, Angela suddenly stopped and turned around.

After a few seconds of searching, she found what she had seen: Max.

The psychologist was standing in the shadow of a building some distance away from her. His right, where a one-sided shoulder cape covered his entire right arm, was turned towards her. But even then, she could see that his usually optimistic and warm expression was now one of melancholy and bitterness.

As Angela followed his gaze, she ended up looking at the collection of chairs set up around the open, white coffin.

She quickly turned back to look at Max, before Genji's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

"Dr. Ziegler?" He asked from the doorway, where he couldn't see Max.

"Coming!" Angela quickly responded, before she turned around and walked back inside.

* * *

The first to step out onto the open area and walk over to the arranged chairs was McCree. Being forced to make do with what he had, the cowboy was wearing a dark grey poncho over a black dress shirt, with his dark Blackwatch-hat on top of his head.

After McCree came Fareeha. The egyptian was wearing a simple, black halter dress, which many other members had expressed surprise over her owning.

Once the pair had walked over to the chairs and found their seats, McCree choosing to remain standing, a few minutes passed before Reinhardt and Torbjorn also appeared. Unlike McCree, they both had a proper suit to wear for the occation even though Torbjorn's looked like it hadn't seen use in decades.

Before that pair had a chance to reach their destination, another face came out from the door.

Soldier 76 walked alone and quickly sat down behind Reinhardt, with a black leather jacket on, that was the best the soldier could muster with the limited time.

Silence once again inhabited the platform, until the sliding doors opened yet again. This time, it was Genji and Angela that stepped out, followed closely by Hanzo. The archer wore perhaps thé most improvised outfit, consisting of a black cloak wrapped around his neck and hanging down in front of his chest and back. In comparison, Genji was wearing his suit and Angela a simple one-shoulder dress.

With almost everyone finally present, they all now just waited for two individuals.

As they waited, almost everyone could feel the heavy and melancholic atmosphere that surrounded them. No one found it pleasant in any way.

Finally, after perhaps a bit too much waiting, Winston and Lucio finally stepped out and walked over to everyone.

While everyone was focused on Winston walking up to the improvised podium next to the coffin, Max took the opportunity to slip from his place in the building's shadow. Aside from the aforementioned white rimmed cape, he was mostly wearing a shirt similar to McCree's.

Winston finally reached the podium. The gorilla turned around and looked out over the expressions of all his friends. With a sigh, he turned towards them.

"Friends," Winston started. "You already know how this will happen. And as such, I will not go into detail about it. Instead, I will just begin the ceremonies."

With a quick cough, Winston spoke in an impassioned voice. "Mei-Ling Zhou was not only a valuable member of Overwatch and a brilliant mind, but a true friend to all those near her. Even from the moment we first met in Ecopoint: Antarctica, we could already sense that she would end up becoming one of our most trusted and cherished comrades."

Winston took a short break. Reinhardt gently touched Torbjorn's shoulder. McCree grapped the edge of his hat. Angela sighed deeply. 76 looked at Winston rather intensily.

"Though her untimely passing saddens us all-" Winston continued. "we must remember that seeking solidarity and apathy is not be what Mei would have wished of us. Instead, she would have wished us to keep her memory alive by continuing to uphold what she believed in, until the very end. What we all believe in. Thank you."

With his speech over, Winston let out a sigh of relief as he crumbled a piece of paper in his hand. While those in front of him clapped, Max himself ran a finger over his own piece of paper.

"Is there anyone else that would like to speak?" The gorilla asked out to everyone gathered.

For a few seconds, no one moved. Until Hanzo suddenly stood up from his seat.

With just a nod, Winston moved back and made room as Hanzo walked up to the podium. There, instead of preparing any sort of note, he simply turned towards everyone else and spoke loudly.

"Depite the fact that I was the one here that likely knew the least about her, I can say, without a shadow of doubt, that I admired Doctor Mei-Ling Zhou. When she passed at the hands of a merciless, honourless madman, I felt the same as everyone else. And afterwards, I felt that something was missing. Not only from this group, but from I, myself. And though it is an unpleassant feeling, it is one I wouldn't trade for anything in this world. Due to the simple fact, that it is a testament to how much of an impact she had on me in the short time we spent together. Like so many others here, she welcomed me here with opened arms. And now that it has become impossible to repay her for that kindness, I will instead devote myself to honour her name and wishes. That is my oath, on my honour as Hanzo Shimada!"

Done, Hanzo placed a hand over his heart and bowed, as everyone in the crowd clapped at him.

"Very nicely said." Winston complimented the archer, as they returned to their original locations. "Anyone else?"

Now Torbjorn was the one to step down from his chair and walk up to the podium.

"I..." Torbjorn started. "I had tried to prepare a speech. But I am an engineer, not a writer. Whatever I tried to come up with, no matter how basic or fancy, I felt always missed the point. So instead, I'll say it as it is!"

With his declaration, Torbjorn placed his hands behind his back and took a deep breath in preparation.

"Mei was, to the very end, a dear friend and a great person. She was, perhaps, my best friend, of those I didn't know from the old days. And even though we rarely had the chance or the incentive, whenever we did strike up a conversation, we could go at it for hours. Me and my crazy ideas for machines and inventions, her and her even crazier theories and thoughts. She would listen to me whenever I had something I needed to lift from my heart. And listen while not interrupting or judging. She was the best kind of friend and comrade you could wish for, and I highly doubt we will ever meet another like her. She truly was, someone great."

Once he was done, Torbjorn immediately walked back to his seat without giving Winston the chance to say something to him.

And before the gorilla had any chance to say anything to the others, Fareeha was now the one to stand up.

With just a simple nod, Winston remained off the podium and Fareeha quickly made her way up to it. She then turned towards the coffin.

"When I first met Mei, I was mostly curious about her, due to the circumstances we found her in. But as I got to know her, I almost completely forgot about that. Instead, her talent for science and unique way to go about everything was what captivated me. Her unjudging nature and openmindedness were truly something, and though she was quiet, she was incredbily inventive. If nothing else, she was a true comrade, who I will dearly miss. One who listened to whatever was said to her, one who helped those who needed it, and, most of all, one who would always seek the best and most peaceful solution to every problem she encountered. You will be missed. That's all."

Even after concluding her speech, the egyptian quickly mumbled something under her breath that no one could hear.

After Fareeha had returned to her seat, Winston found himself back on the podium. "Anyone else?" He asked in a somewhat low voice.

A couple of silent seconds passed. Angela then suddenly stood up and looked up towards the gorilla.

Once the two had switched places, the doctor turned over towards the coffin like Fareeha had just done.

"There was a lot I didn't know. I didn't know what exactly your past entailed, I didn't know what you thought about it and yourself. I didn't know what you carried around every day. And even know, I don't know why you had to be taken from us so suddenly. But if there is one thing I do know, it is that the time we spent together was something truly special. And even though I wish we had taken the opportunity to talk more often, I still think that, whenever we did talk or just spend time together, it wasn't something I, nor any of us, could get anywhere else. You were something special, something we wouldn't be able to find anywhere else if we tried, and most of all, something we are saddend to part ways with. But even then, I'll try to look back on the time spent together with happiness. Not sadness."

Taking a page out of Hanzo's book, once she was done talking in her slightly shaking voice, Angela bowed slightly before returning to her seat.

During the entire way down, Max followed her with his eyes.

"Was that everyone?" Winston asked from his position on the podium. Initially, silence was the only answer he recieved. That was until something unexpected happened.

76 stood up.

Knowing he had everyone's surprised eyes on him, the soldier walked towards the coffin and podium with determination.

Finally reaching it, 76 turned towards the coffin in complete silence. And it remained that way, not a single word escaping his lips.

After some rather tense seconds, the soldier raised his hand up towards his head, as he clicked the heels of his shoes together. He then saluted Mei in silence.

76 stood like that for a few seconds, before he lowered his hand and walked back to his seat. Even though every eye was on him, it seemed very few of them noticed he seemed more tired than when he walked up.

Winston quickly returned to the podium. "Was... there anyone else?" The gorilla asked, apparently also taken aback by 76's unusual action.

No one said or did anything.

"Very well." Winston then declared, before requesting "Now, if you would please."

With a nod, everyone gathered rose up from their seats. As a rather solitary silence settled in, only Winston, 76 and Hanzo moved. All three walked up to the coffin. The two humans then pushed from the sides and Winston from the back.

After a few seconds, the white coffin disappeared under the edge of the platform.

Everyone was still silent. An incredibly faint splash sound then confirmed the deed was done.

Remaining silent, everyone stood still for another couple of seconds. Then, a quick sound suddenly penetrated the silence from the back.

When everyone turned back, they could see Max had turned around and was walking back. The back of his suit and shoulder cape were the only things visible, as his arms and face were, likely purposefully, hidden.

Slowly but surely, everyone also began to walk away.

* * *

The sun had already set a long time ago and the moon's faint, silverish light was now the only natural source of light on the platform.

Of course, that wasn't enough for everywhere inside, so all the other lights were turned on. Even though everyone had gathered in the recreational room for some post-ceremony drinking and talking, only the former was happening.

Silence reigned completely. Winston, Reinhardt, Fareeha and Lucio had all already returned to their rooms and Torbjorn was sound asleep on the bar, leaving Angela, McCree, 76 and the Shimada brothers as the only councious people left.

All five were gathered around the bar, although only Genji and McCree were the only ones with drinks in their hands.

If truth is to be told, Max was also in the room. However, ever since the ceremony, he hadn't spoken to anyone and kept to the shadows. But whereas he usually did so to look on without interrupting, now it seemed like he did to create distance between everyone else and himself. And the others felt that.

Eventually, McCree, who was sitting behind the bar, brought the mug up to his mouth and after emptying it, he looked over at Angela. The swiss doctor was likewise also in a melancholic mood, just staring at the tape placed over the crack Max had made.

The cowboy let out a sigh. But as he looked over at everyone else, he noticed Genji was also looking at her.

After thinking it over for a few seconds, McCree quickly spun around and picked out a few things from the cabinets behind them. After quickly making a glass, he turned back around and placed in front of Genji.

The cyborg ninja initially just looked at him in confusion, but after a nod towards Angela, he understood.

When a sudden and unexpected glass landed in front of her, Angela looked towards its source and saw Genji looking at her.

After a quick smile from her, Genji took the opportunity to finally break the unbearable silence. "You seem unusually melancholic, doctor. Why is that?" He asked.

"I could ask you the very same thing." Angela simply responded, her smile dropping faintly.

"You could ask us all that same bloody question." 76 suddenly interjected as he looked up at everyone. "Even the usually happy-go-lucky doctor over there." He added as his gaze turned to the direction of Max.

Upon his mention, everyone else, apart from Hanzo, also turned toward him. The psychologist was sitting leaned back and folding something in his hands.

"Now that you say it," Genji spoke as he rather carefully looked at Max. "I haven't seen him like this before."

No one really knew what to say after that, so the rather familiar silence once again returned as they all sat and observed Max.

Eventually, Angela turned around and grapped the glass in front of her, an unusually defeated expression on her.

"Angela?" Genji asked once he noticed her demeanor. When she didn't answer, it didn't take long for the ninja to figure out what was nagging her. "You aren't used to seeing him like this either, I take it?"

The doctor simply shook her head in response.

"He's always wanted to have friends and help." Angela suddenly and quite unexpectedly started. "Back when we went to school together, it was the same. It was just his unusual demeanor and look that kinda scared most others away."

"Luckily, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore." Genji tried to cheer Angela up a bit.

"True." She halfheartedly admitted. She then raised the glass in front of her, and as she rotated it a bit, making the liquid spin around like a miniature whirlpool, she mumbled "But I sometimes wonder why he was that way. It doesn't seem like something he inherited."

When no one said anything in response, Angela decided to continue. "But... even then. Even when he was somewhat of a klutz at socializing, he was still welcoming, still open to anyone who was willing to give him a chance. But now..."

She slowly turned towards him. "I have never felt him distancing himself from others like this. It's... just so abnormal to me."

Done talking, Angela turned back towards the bar and looked down at her glass again.

Almost everyone once again found nothing appropriate to say. They agreed, but just admitting that wouldn't do anything, so silence filled the space around them again.

"You were separated for over a decade." Hanzo suddenly spoke. Everyone immediately turned towards the archer, who himself sat and looked at a blue-tinted, half-empty cup of sake. As he sat for a few seconds in silence, he could feel everyone's, but especially Angela's, eyes looking intensely at him.

"It makes sense for him to have changed in all that time. Solitude breeds self-reflection. Self-reflection breeds realizations. And realizations, they force change in a person." The archer said, earning an unusual look from his brother.

Hanzo suddenly put the cup down and turned towards everyone else at the bar. His eyes were quite judgemental as he added "Besides, we are dealing with the passing of a friend here. I would be more concerned if he wasn't behaving differently."

The archer's rather harsh words caused everyone to look down in a mix of guilt and shame.

"I know." Angela eventually responded. "I know..."

"But if I may say something," McCree suddenly interjected. "I just didn't expect 'im to react so much. I mean, he's almost more gloomy than all of us, even though we knew her for so much longer."

"There is truth to what you say." Hanzo simply admitted. "I-"

The archer suddenly silenced himself. Everyone looked at him questioningly for a few seconds, before they looked behind him. Max had gotten up from his seat and was walking towards the exit to the outside.

Though few of them wanted to admit it, everyone's eyes were on him as he went over to the door and stepped outside, into the silver moonlight.

From there, the psychologist walked right, out of sight of the group at the bar, and towards the place where the funeral had been held just a few hours ago.

He slowly made his way over the metal floor, every step echoing out into the empty night.

Once he reached the edge, Max looked down into the ocean where the coffin had been dropped. From this distance, he couldn't see if there was any debris floating in the water or not.

After a few seconds, he managed to pry his eyes away from the water. He then extended his right, cape-covered arm and opened his hand.

In his palm sat a single origami butterfly.

After a quick breath, Max then turned his hand. His eyes followed the butterfly as it slowly fell towards the same water that had become Mei's unnamed grave.

* * *

"In truth..." Angela quitely said. "I think he knew her better than any of us ever did."


End file.
